This Could Be Anywhere in the World
by red-bell-again
Summary: A chance meeting between two people and Quil's attempt at being the good guy ends with Claire's knee in his groin. The beginning of an unlikely friendship and the opportunity of a life time, but not everything is as simple as it seems. A/H
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This story was previously posted by 'keepthechange' who decided that she didn't have time to keep writing this story, so rather than completely abandon it she gave it to me and I'm gonna attempt to complete it. The first two chapters are ones that have already been put up and from C3 onwards will be mine. Hope you enjoy it...again!**

* * *

"Jeez, Quil!" Jacob winced as he shut the front door to their shared apartment, kicking off his greased up boots into an old shoe tidy that sat wedged in the corner. "Have you moved at all today?"

Quil shrugged, his thumbs flicking wildly over the Xbox controller that sat nestled in his hands and his eyes never leaving the macabre scene on the screen in front of him.

He sat surrounded by various discarded food wrappers and cartons, dirty plates and glasses. His cropped black hair looked greasy and straggly and his clothes were crumpled and smeared with a number of sticky substances.

"Seriously dude, what the hell has gotten into you lately? You've been like this all week, I'm starting to worry." He glanced at the clock on the DVD player and frowned "Shouldn't you be at work by now?"

"You can't go to work if you don't have a job." Quil replied monotonously, his eyes still fixed on the TV.

"You lost your Job?" Jacob blanched and dropped on to the sofa next to him. "What the hell happened?"

Quil huffed and paused the game, dropping the controller unceremoniously onto the cluttered coffee table and shoving his fingers into his matted hair, "I fell asleep at the counter and a couple of things got stolen."

"What?" Jacob sat up straight in his seat "How could you do that? We need that money to make rent every month!"

"It's not like I did it on purpose Jake!" Quil pushed himself from the sofa and stalked into the small kitchenette to grab a beer from the fridge. "I was up all night last Thursday and all day Friday trying to get my head around that damn math work and they put me on the night shift at the store. I was up for over twenty four hours straight man, I put my head on the counter for a second and the next thing I know, Katie was ripping me a new one over some missing cigarette cartons."

"So you decided not to tell me about this?" Jacob grabbed the bottle from Quil's hand and swallowed half of the cold liquid in one go. "It sucks, Quil, I get that, but I can't foot the rent and utilities with what I make at the garage. You can't sit around wallowing in filth and eating us out of house and home, you need to get out and do something about this."

"I tried, none of the on campus jobs pay as much as the store did and everything else I found was full time hours, and I can't do that man, I'm struggling enough with my work as it is." He shook his head dejectedly.

"Hey listen man," Jacob leaned against the counter next to him "let me talk to George, see if he can throw you a couple of hours at the garage while you find a more permanent job. Okay?"

"Thanks man." Quil smiled stiffly.

Jacob dug into his jean pockets and pulled a piece of paper, shoving it at Quil "Someone handed me this earlier, maybe it'll help with your coursework."

He unfolded the flyer and scanned the text, "A study buddy?"

"Yeah according to the flyer they match your course information, strengths and weakness', that sorta thing, with someone else's so that you can help each other." Jacob explained, shrugging and chugging the last of the bottle of beer. "I think I heard Ness talking about it too, actually. Speaking of she'll be here in like, ten minutes so if you could at least shower that would be great, because you smell like shit!"

Quil pulled at his shirt and sniffed, wrinkling his nose in disgust. "Sure, just let me pick this shit up and I'll jump in."

"No it's okay; I'll clear it just…go." Jacob dismissed him and pulled out an empty garbage bag, beginning the task of sorting the rubbish while Quil walked down the hallway to his room.

Once inside he sighed and glanced around his room, searching the organised chaos for clean underwear. He pulled open a large bag that contained the laundry he'd done a few days before and not bothered to put away and retrieved a clean shirt and shorts and then headed across the hall to the bathroom.

As he waited for the water in the shower to heat up he heard the doorbell ring and a pair of muffled voices and assumed that Renesmee had arrived. He peeled his t-shirt over his head and tossed it into the laundry basket and unbuttoned his jeans, letting them drop with his underwear into a pile on the floor before stepping into the tub and under the shower spray.

He audibly groaned as the heat, cascaded over the muscles of his back and neck and a loud knock on the door had him sighing.

"Hey Quil, you gonna be long? Nessie needs to pee." Jacob shouted and Quil reached blindly behind him and pulled the shower curtain closed.

"Well as long as she promises to resist the urge to check out my ass she can come in, the curtains closed." He shouted back, reaching for the shower gel. "Otherwise I'm gonna be a few minutes."

"Hi Quil, sorry about this!" Renesmee voice chirped as she stepped into the bathroom. "I came straight from the library and I'm absolutely dying here."

"It's fine." He replied, scratching his fingers through his now soapy hair. He heard Renesmee fumble and groan and chuckled to himself.

"By the way," She exclaimed, as she flushed the toilet and went to wash her hands "I've already seen your ass more times than I'd care too, and while it may be impressive you're no Jake so I think I can resist peeking at it!"

"Way to hit a man when he's down Ness!" He scowled, peeking his head around the curtain at her.

Renesmee grinned. "Aww I'm sorry, but if you like I could give you the names of a couple of girls who would love to see it? I could even give you a couple of guys!"

"Gee thanks!" He disappeared back behind the curtain and turned off the water "Now get out of my bathroom unless you want to see everything? I forgot my towel."

"I think I can live without that, thanks! Oh, hey." She said half out the door. "Jake mentioned you lost your job that sucks."

"Not my best moment." He pulled the curtain back slightly, careful to keep the lower half of his body covered. "But I'll find something."

"Well I have a friend who works in a bar a couple of blocks away, and she said they're looking for someone, I can give her a call if you like?" She shrugged.

"That would be great, thanks!" Quil smiled. "Now could you please leave? Jakes gonna start getting jealous."

"See you in a minute." Renesmee shook her head and left, closing the door behind her and Quil jumped out of the tub. He grabbed the clothes he'd brought in with him and opened the door to peer outside quickly before running across the hall and back into his room. He found his towel on the back of his desk chair and scrubbed it down his body.

Quil pulled on his underwear and shorts and tucked his t-shirt into the pocket and walked down the hall with the towel round his neck.

"I'm just gonna step out for a minute." Jacob said as he rose from his seat next to Renesmee. "We're out of beer and bread. You need anything?"

"I'll go if you want?" Quil answered, dropping his towel onto the counter and pulling his shirt on. "Give you some 'alone time'" He wiggled his eyebrows.

"Subtle bro, real subtle." Jacob scowled.

Quil grabbed his tennis shoes from the rack and leant against the wall as he pulled them on. He fished his wallet and keys from a large bowl on the side.

"I'll be about fifteen minutes. Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" He shouted as he left he apartment and descended the two flights of stairs to street level.

He curled into himself as he stepped out onto the street. The sun was long down, a chill wind had picked up and goose bumps popped up over his bare forearms. He picked up speed, rounding the corner and jogged across the street to the small store.

The owner of the shop greeted him with a curt nod and Quil waved as he disappeared to the back of the shop towards the fridge and pulled out two six packs of beer before turning back to the front of the store and picking up a loaf of bread on his way to the till.

Quil waited patiently as the clerk served the girl in front of him. She mumbled he thanks and pushed a hot pink purse back into her bag and left the store. He paced his purchases on the counter, and pulled a note from his wallet as they were rung up.

"Have a nice night." The clerk smiled and Quil cradled the bag under his arm and pushed his way out on to the street.

As the door shut behind him, his eyes were caught by an object on the floor. He knelt down and picked up the hot pink purse that he'd seen the girl before him put in her bag, glancing around he spotted someone about her size walking towards a car on the other side of the road.

"Hey!" Quil called as he quickly checked the road for on coming cars and ran towards her. Her head shot round and her eyes widened and she fumbled quickly in her bag. "Hey lady!"

"Leave me alone!" She shouted and dropped her keys, snatching them up quickly.

"But you…" He said catching her wrist and he was suddenly blinded by pain as her knee connected with his balls.

"Get away from me!" She screamed and jumped in to her car, barely waiting for him to crawl out of the way before she sped away.

"Fucking shit!" He growled sitting on the curb, his grocery bag and her purse forgotten in the road as he cupped between his legs, his eyes swimming with tears.

"Dude you okay?" A man asked as he walked past, shooting Quil a suspicious look when he noticed where his hand was placed.

"I'm fine," He winced, pushing himself to his feet and grabbing his things from the floor, and pushing the purse into his pocket. "I may never have children, but I'm fine."

Quil hobbled back down the street to his apartment building, dreading each step up to his front door.

When he finally managed to get the door open, Jacob was just coming from his bedroom in his boxers.

"Shit man what happened?" He exclaimed taking in the look on Quil's face.

"Need ice." Was all he said, discarding the beer on the counter and rummaging through the freezer, finally settling on a bag of frozen peas, before he limped to the sofa and sat with them in his lap.

"What's going on?" Renesmee asked, wrapping her arms around Jacob's stomach and leaning her head on his chest.

"Hey Ness you're pre med right?" Quil asked and she nodded. "Can you check my balls I think they may have popped?"

"She's not going anywhere near your balls, now what he fuck happened?" Jacob demanded.

"There was a girl at the store," He started "I saw her put a purse in her bag but she must not have put it in properly because when I got outside it was on the floor. I saw her going to her car so I ran over to her and she kneed me in the sac."

Jacob visibly shuddered, and Renesmee squeezed Quil's shoulder. "I don't think you've been popped, just keep the ice on it." She said. "But in her defence if I didn't know you, and I saw you running towards me I would be scared too. I don't know what they put in the water back on the Rez but you guys do kinda look intimidating."

"Hey! I just took a knee in the sausage for trying to be the good guy. If you're not going to examine me the least you can do is pretend to be on my side!" He scowled as she chuckled. "I'm gonna go take these shorts off and lay down. If you don't see me by tomorrow night assume I've died and tell my mum I love her."

Quil pushed himself from the sofa with strict instructions from Ness to keep his underwear on or risk frostbite and Jacob following behind him.

"I know this probably isn't a good time but Ness called about the study buddy thing for you. You've got you're first meeting tomorrow lunch time at the library." He said indicating a small post it note stuck to his alarm clock.

"Thanks man." Quil nodded and popped the button on his shorts, letting them drop to the floor. "Now if you don't mind I would like to cry without an audience."

"You'll live." Jacob grinned. "See you in the morning."

Quil flopped on his bed as his door clicked shut, and placed the bag of peas back in his lap, jumping at the coldness. He reached to the floor and pulled the purse from his pocket, flipping it open to find a drivers licence.

"Claire Young. You'd be beautiful if you weren't so sadistic." He grunted throwing it back to the floor and closing his eyes.

* * *

When Quil woke the next morning an uncomfortable feeling greeted him. He glanced down at his wet boxers and the squashed bag of defrosted peas that had split open under his weight at some time during the night.

He groaned and pushed himself off the bed and trudged towards the bathroom to brush his teeth and as he stared into the bathroom mirror with sleepy eyes, unable to brush off the niggling thought that he was forgetting something. He spat into the sink and replaced his toothbrush and went back to his room, eyeing the post it still stuck next to his bed.

Quil grasped hold of it, and skimmed the words.

'Study Buddy, 12.00, campus library. Claire Young. DON'T BE LATE!'

He glanced at his watch. "Shit!" He exclaimed noting that it was already eleven thirty, and slipped his boxers down, forgoing a fresh pair and pulling on the first pair of jeans he found and hopped around the room as he tugged on his shoes.

Quil looked for a t-shirt, giving up after a minute of searching and heading down the hall towards Jacob's room and knocking on the door.

"Jake you in there, I need a shirt?" He heard a grumble from behind the door and pushed it open, bringing a hand up to the side of his face to block his view of the bed.

"What the hell Quil, get out!" Jacob grumbled.

"Relax I can't see anything, I'm running late for that meet and I can't find a shirt…ah ha!" He exclaimed, pulling one from Jake's wardrobe and tugging it over his head. "I'll see you later, nice ass Ness!" He chuckled pulling the door shut just in time to block one of Jacob's shoes.

He pulled his bag from under his desk and swung it over his shoulder and rescued his wallet from last night's shorts, frowning when his eye caught the pink purse.

"Can't be?" He frowned deeper pulling the drivers licence back out and glancing at the name Jacob had scrawled over the note, before running from the apartment.

Quil was ten minutes late when he finally reached the library, his eye's searched the tables as he walked between the racks of books, finally spotting a girl sat on her own and looking at her watch.

"Claire?" He asked dropping his bag onto the table next to her making her jump.

"You're late!" She hissed.

"I apologize." He nodded rounding the table and sitting across from her. "But somebody kneed me in the balls last night so I'm not exactly walking at my fastest."

Claire's mouth fell open and she scowled. "That you was you following me? Are you stalking me or something?" She rose from her seat and began gathering her things.

"Yeah I was following you." Quil said snatching a book from her grasp and forcing her to look towards him as he reached into his bag and threw her purse on the table. "I found this outside the store and I though it was yours. I was just trying to return it."

"Oh!" Claire blushed and slipped back into her seat. She gingerly took her purse from the table and opened it.

"I didn't take anything!" Quil exclaimed. "I just checked your licence… And by the way this," He said gesturing around them "was pure coincidence. If I'd known for sure it was you I would've never turned up, you vicious harpy!"

"Hey! Could you keep the noise down? Some of us are trying to study here." A girl hissed from behind them.

"It didn't hurt that bad!" Claire frowned.

"Oh yeah? And when was the last time someone kicked you in the jewels?" He cocked an eyebrow, as she slunk down into her chair and mumbled to herself.

"You're welcome by the way." Quil stood from his seat and turned away from the table.

"I'm sorry!" A voice called from behind him. "It's just, a friend of mine was mugged the other week and I've kinda been on high alert ever since."

Quil sighed and turned back to face her. "I guess maybe I shouldn't have run at you like that." He shrugged and she blushed again and this time Quil took the time to study her. Her long face and high cheek bones, her wide brown eyes and her perfectly bowed lips. The tiny picture on her licence did her no justice.

"Come on I'll make it up to you." He nodded towards the door. "We can talk about this math somewhere else…"

"Please!" The girl behind him whined and he shot her a poisonous look.

"And I'll buy you a coffee, or a cake…" He bent his knees to look at her eyes. "I'll by you some mace, because even that shit is better than getting kneed in the nads and I wouldn't wish that on anyone!"

Claire giggled and shook her head. "I really am sorry!"

"Come on, I'll trade you. Mace for an ice pack." He grinned waiting for her to pick up her bag and putting his arm around her and leading towards the exit. "I'm Quil Ateara by the way."


	2. Chapter 2

"So, when you're not assaulting helpless strangers what is it you do?" Quil grinned before taking a bite of his sandwich and flinching in his seat when Claire pinched at his side.

"Helpless?" She scoffed. "You're hardly that Quil! Have you seen how big you are?"

Quil cocked an eyebrow and his grin returned as she flushed brutally and dipped her head so that her hair covered her face. "Everybody has their weak points; mine just happens to be my nuts…As I'm sure every other guys are. A swift kick or a quick tug can render us speechless, both for very different reasons!"

"Wow! Appropriate." Claire scowled and dug her fork into her pasta salad.

"I never claimed to be." He shrugged. "You never answered my question."

Claire sipped her drink and turned towards him a little. "I haven't picked a major yet. My dad wants me to go to Law school and my mom wants whatever he wants. I'm just biding my time."

Quil leaned forward with his chin resting on his hand. "What about you, what do you want?"

"I want to travel, see the world." She replied the corner of her mouth twitched into a small smile. "I want to go to Africa and see Elephants without bars in the way, go to France and climb the Eiffel Tower or maybe a ride on a Gondola through Venice."

She sighed and shook her head. "But I can't do those things. They're flighty and whimsical as my mother would say."

"It's not up to your mom what you do with your life." Quil said softly. "If you want to do it, then do it."

"What about you? What do you do when you're not stalking random girls?" She asked, quickly changing the topic.

"Mechanical Engineering," He answered. "But spitting off the top of the Eiffel Tower sounds like a lot more fun!"

"I never said anything about spitting off the tower!" Claire exclaimed.

"I know," Quil nodded. "You can just look over the edge or take pictures, whatever it is that you want to when you're up there and I'll spit."

"What makes you think I would want to go with you?" She asked cocking an eyebrow.

"Why wouldn't you?" He smirked. "Do you have a passport?"

"Of course!" She said.

"Then there really isn't anything stopping you." Quil shrugged and stuffed the last of his sandwich in his mouth.

"How am I supposed to pay for it exactly?" Claire questioned, crossing her arms over her chest. "I don't have that much. I mean, I have a small trust fund but I can't get into that until…I can't get into that yet."

"If you look around you can get cheap flights, and there are hostels and bed sits depending on how long you want to stay." He pursed his lips. "If you really want to do it, you can find a way."

"It's a pipe dream Quil, nothing more." Claire grabbed her bag and stood. "Thanks for lunch, again, I'm sorry about the whole kneeing you in the…."

"Balls." He offered when she trailed off.

"Yeah those." She nodded. "I'll see you around."

* * *

"Hey man, how'd it go? What's your buddy like?" Jacob asked, twisting in his seat as Quil dumped his bag and shoes and headed in to the kitchen.

"Claire Young." He grinned, popping the cap off a bottle of beer and jumping onto the couch next to Jake. "She's smart, beautiful and she was the one who nut cracked me last night."

"No way, how did that work out for you?" Jacob chuckled.

"She was pissed, I was pissed, she apologized for busting me, I apologized for scaring her and then I bought her lunch." He nodded. "Overall I'd say it went quite well!"

"Only you, Quil, only you. " Jacob shook his head and his chest vibrated with silent laughter. "So listen, I talked to George and he hasn't got anything right now, sorry dude."

"It's okay." He shrugged. "Can I ask you a question?"

Jake cocked an eyebrow and nodded, waiting for him to continue. "You ever been to France?"

"Quil we've known each other since we were in diapers, you've never lived more than five minutes away from me, you would have known if I'd been to France." Jacob exclaimed.

"Well you've been with Ness for a couple of years, and you had that vacation with her, I figured she was getting you all cultured and shit." He swigged from the bottle.

"We went to Florida for a week; I don't even have a passport. What's brought this on anyway?" He asked.

"Just something Claire was talking about got me thinking about what I'm doing here." He sighed. "I look nothing like a mechanical engineer."

"Uh, I didn't realise they looked a certain way?" Jacob eyed his friend warily.

"No they don't, I mean…" He threw his hands up and Jacob blanched. "Look at you, your clothes are covered in grease stains, and your nails are black you just look like a mechanic. It fits you.

But me? I look like I should be running down some beach with a board under my arm yelling 'dude' and 'totally' because they're the only words I can manage after three hours of hot boxing, while my parents look on in shame and tell me I should have gone to college."

"Quil! You're making absolutely no sense!" Jacob exclaimed. "More so than usual. How hard did she kick you last night?"

"I'm serious Jake! I'm twenty two and I've spent over half of my life going to school." Quil sat forward with his elbows on his knees. "Eventually, yeah, I want to settle down, own my own home, have a good job and not have to worry about money but I want to be able to say I did something with my life!"

Quil jumped up from his seat and ran down the hallway, leaving Jacob open mouthed and wide eyed on the sofa. A sharp knock on the door drew his attention and Renesmee let herself in with a wide smile on her face.

"Hey baby, miss me?" She asked, skipping over to him and pressing her lips to his, pulling back to find a frown on his face. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not entirely sure…" He paused when there was a loud bang from the direction of Quil's room, followed by a tirade of obscenities. "But I think Quil may have had a mental breakdown."

"What?" Renesmee frowned and turned towards his room but stopped when Jacob grabbed her wrist and Quil came rushing back towards them with the phone to his ear and a backpack.

"You see what I did with my passport?" He frowned rummaging through a drawer.

"Quil, what…" Renesmee stopped when Quil held up his finger and pointed to the phone.

"Hi, yeah I was wondering if you could tell me what building Claire Young is living in?" He spoke into the phone quickly, listening intently to the person on the other end. "Come on please? All you have to give me is the name of her building, that's all!" He begged.

"Please, my names Quil Ateara I'll give you my address, phone number, social security number hell, I'll even get my parents to call if you want proof I'm not a serial killer but I really need to know….Thank you, thank you, thank you! You're a life saver, I love you."

"What the hell is going on?" Nessie exclaimed.

"No time, need to get going." Quil grinned and grabbed her in his arms. "I love you Ness, you're the best thing that ever happened to Jacob, and he doesn't deserve you."

"Thanks!" Jacob blanched.

"Jake," Quil slapped him on the shoulder. "I'll miss you dude."

And with that he grabbed his overstuffed bag and headed for the door, Jacob stalking after him "Quil?"

"I'll send you a postcard!" He shouted and slammed the door behind him.

Claire sat on her bed, text book on her lap and a pen between her teeth, completely ignoring her room mate who was chattering away into her phone while simultaneously painting her toenails.

A loud bang on the door made them both jump, and Claire watched as her room mate hobbled to the door and yanked it open.

"Who the hell are you?" She exclaimed, hand on hip.

"Does Claire Young live here?" She balked at the sound of her name and tried to look around the girl to see who the voice belonged to.

"What's it got to do with you?" The girl asked and squealed when the person pushed past her and glanced around the room.

"Quil, what are you doing here? How did you find me?" She asked her eyebrows arched in surprise as she pushed herself from the bed.

"I called campus housing and they told me which building, I knocked on every single door over the last two floors." Quil sighed deeply, trying to catch his breath. "I came to ask you something."

"Okay…" She pressed. "Well what was it?"

"What you said earlier got me thinking about what I want to do with my life and I made a decision." he puffed and dropped his bag to the floor. "I know you don't know me well…or at all, but…"

"But what, Quil?" She exclaimed.

"I have two airline tickets reserved. One way to Paris, France." He explained. "Come with me?"

"Holy shit are you serious?" She screeched. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that everything you said at lunch sounded great." He smiled. "And how I don't want to go through my life and realise that all I did was spend most of my days in an office following other people's specifications."

"This is ridiculous! What about school? Jobs? Money?" She asked shaking her head. "Not to mention my parents would kill me."

"We can pick up our courses next semester, it's allowed and I have enough money as long as I'm careful with it." Quil stepped towards her. "Forget about what your parents want and think about what you want. The plane leaves in four hours, come with me, see the world…spit of the top of the Eiffel Tower!"

Claire pulled her lip between her teeth. "I'm not spitting from the tower."

A grin split Quil's face. "Is that a yes?"

"Yeah." She nodded and giggled nervously. "It's a yes!"

"Then what the hell are you waiting for? Get packing!" He chuckled.

* * *

"I can't believe I'm doing this!" Claire squealed as she slipped into her window seat while Quil pushed there bags into the over head compartment. "It's insane; I should be studying for midterms and ironing my work uniform not sitting on an international flight!"

"Believe it." He smiled wedging himself into the seat, his knees pressing into the seat in front.

They watched as the cabin crew closed the door and began there checks and soon they were taxing towards the runway.

"This is really happening." Claire grinned, as the plane sped up along the runway and she felt herself tip back in her seat. She glanced at Quil's beaming face and grabbed his hand from where it gripped the arm rest. "Thank you for this."

* * *

**This chapter was written by Olivia (keepthechange) but reviews are still appreciated.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Okay so here is my first chapter for this story and I hope I did it justice. There are some French translations, I was never any good at languages at school so they're all courtesy of google translate and I apologize for any errors. The English translations are listed in order of appearance at the end. Enjoy!**

* * *

Claire grabbed Quil's hand and pulled him after her as she ran through the arrivals hall at Charles De Gaul and out through the front door. "I can't believe I'm actually here!" She exclaimed, her voice raising a few octaves as she bounced on the balls of her feet.

"Come on we need to go find somewhere to stay." Quil grinned pulling her along. "Uh, I'm not trying to pry, but how much money did you change over back at the airport? I have about four thousand euros."

"Oh, I umm…I maxed out my emergency credit card." Claire chewed her lip. "I have about seven and a half thousand." She whispered and Quil's eyebrows shot up.

"Okay, well how about we put most of that away? Hide it in the bottom of your bag or something, and just match the four that I have." He edged. "We'll split everything evenly and when it starts to run out we'll think about getting home?"

"But I still owe you for the flight, I -" She started but Quil stopped walking and she bumped into his back.

"You don't need to pay me back. I asked you to come with me." He shrugged and when she started to protest he put his hand over her mouth. "Keep the money. Put it away for emergencies, okay?" Claire nodded and he uncovered her mouth and began pulling her along again.

"Where the fuck are the taxi's?" Quil scowled, looking at the signs.

"Quil, do you know French?" Claire cocked an eyebrow.

"I know the lyrics to 'Ca Plane pour Moi', does that count?" He asked and she shook her head and chuckled, heading in the direction of a security guard.

"Let's ask this guy. Excuse-moi, monsieur?" The security guard smiled down at her. "Pourriez-vous me dire où trouver un taxi?"

"Oui. Faites le tour vers la gauche," he replied pointing "il devrait y avoir une certaine attente."

"Merci." Claire smiled. "Au revoir."

"I didn't know you could speak French!" Quil said before his face split into a smirk. "Kinda hot!"

"In your dreams, Quil." She scowled as they walked through the automatic door and out of the building. "Now where are we going?"

"I thought we were going to the Eiffel Tower." He shrugged.

"Maybe we should have planned this a bit better." Claire mumbled and headed toward an empty cab. "Come on, get in." She pushed Quil into the car and threw her backpack onto his lap before climbing in after him. "Tour Eiffel, s'il vous plaît."

"So we are going to the tower?" Quil asked and she shrugged.

"It's as good a place to start as any."

* * *

"Wow!" Quil tipped his head back as far as it could go and looked up at the Eiffel Tower. "I suddenly feel really emasculated."

"Seriously Quil, does everything have to come back to your junk?" Claire asked as she walked towards the crowd underneath the feet of the tower, leaving Quil standing there.

"Pretty much." He nodded, picking up both there bags from his feet and following her. "You wanna go get in line?"

She looked at the large spiral of people waiting to go up the tower and sighed. "I'm not any rush. We're gonna be here for at least a week right? Plus I'd rather go at night, can you imagine the view? All the lights!"

"We can do both," Quil shrugged "we can go up today and then come back again another night."

"That would be nice, but not today." She shook her head. "I don't know about you but I'm hungry and we still need to find a place to stay."

"I'm starved." He replied patting his stomach before a look of horror passed over his face. "Do I have to eat snails!"

"No!" Claire chuckled, pulling her bag from his shoulder and putting it on her back. " I saw a McDonalds on the way here, we can just go there until you're feeling a little more adventurous with your choice in cuisine."

Quil followed Claire obediently as she found her way back along the street to the fast food restaurant. She chuckled as he practically shouted his order at the woman at the counter in an effort to be understood and the woman took a step back in shock until Claire leaned over from placing her order to apologize and complete his and he threw her a grateful look.

While they were seated, Quil searched for places to stay on his iPhone while Claire called to check for vacancies.

"This is the last place in the area, if they don't have anything we're gonna have to jump a train and go further oh…Bonjour, je me demandais si vous avez des offres d'emploi pour ce soir?" Claire twisted a piece of hair that fell loose from her ponytail as she listened intently to the other end of the line. "Oui. Un homme et une femme.

They have two beds in a mixed dorm room, but minimum booking is two nights is that okay?" She asked, covering the speaker and Quil nodded his head in agreement while trying to swallow a mouthful of his burger.

"If you're cool with it then I am." He shrugged and Claire turned her attention back to the phone to book their stay.

"All done, forty four euros each. It's not too bad." She said placing her phone on the table and pushing a fry into her mouth as Quil noisily slurped at his drink. "We can head there in a minute."

Claire jumped when her phone began to vibrate around the table, she picked it up and glanced at the screen. "Shit!"

"Who is it?" Quil frowned.

"My parents." She mumbled as the buzzing finally stopped. "They've obviously noticed I've gone."

"Just tell them where you are and that you'll be back when you're ready." He shrugged pinching one of her chicken nuggets. "You're an adult, you're allowed to make your own decisions."

Claire blushed and dropped her phone into her bag. "You ready to go?" Without waiting for him to answer she stood with her tray and dumped the contents into a nearby trash can before heading towards the front door while Quil scrambled after her.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked placing a hand on her shoulder and turning her towards him and she nodded, pushing a stiff smile onto her face.

"I'm fine, just forget about it .It's getting late, and I need sleep." She threaded her arm through his and turned up the street. "Let's get some rest and then tomorrow we can get this adventure started with properly huh?"

After a short walk and a few stops for directions they finally found their hostel and were shown to the room. The woman from the front desk pointed at the only two empty bunks, one at each side of the room and then left them to it.

"Which one do you want? Window or door?" Quil asked pulling his backpack from his shoulder and dropping it to the floor.

"Uh, I don't mind," She shrugged, glancing between the two "Window?"

"Fine by me!" He said throwing his backpack onto his bunk. "I'm gonna visit the big boys room, I really need to piss. Are you gonna be okay on your own for a minute?"

"I'm a big girl Quil, I can manage." Claire chuckled as he bolted from the room and she could hear him yelling in the corridor for people to move out of his way or risk being target practice. She busied her self with making up her bed and just as she was laying out the sheet the door opened and two men walked in, spotting her immediately.

She glanced nervously at them, before leaning back into her bunk, listening to them shuffling around behind her.

"Bonjour." Claire turned to find the smaller, blonde one standing directly behind her, his pale blue eyes traveling from her feet upwards as she smiled politely and carried on with what she was doing. "Vous parlez français jolie fille?"

Claire frowned. "Um,I…I don't speak French." She lied, looking toward the door and silently willing Quil to return.

"Oh American! I love Americans" The man said grinning, his accent thick as he threw a glance at his friend, who chuckled back. "You on your own?"

"No," Claire shook her head vehemently "I'm here with a friend."

The man stepped closer and Claire backed into to wooden frame of the bed, the smell of cigarettes wafted over her and she wrinkled her nose. "Well if you'd like I could show you around? Show you a good time?"

"I don't think so…I…" She stammered, breathing an audible sigh when Quil noisily barged into the room.

"Sorry about that!" He boomed glancing between them before walking over to Claire and throwing his arm around her, pulling her into his side. "Decided to drop the kids off at the pool while I was out, you know how it is. So, who are your friends?"

"I didn't get their names." Claire mumbled, wrapping her arm around Quil's back and fisting the material of his t-shirt.

"Right, well it's been a long day. Maybe we should try and get some sleep?" He turned to Claire who nodded. "I'll be right here if you need me okay?" He pointed to his bunk and she disappeared into her own and drawing the curtain across it.

"It's been nice meeting you." Quil said stiffly, his smile gone as he held out his hand to the guy that had been standing closest to Claire who visibly winced as his fingers were squeezed together. "See you around."

A few hours later Claire jolted awake, blinking her eyes to try and adjust to the almost complete darkness that filled her bunk. It took her a second to hear the voices coming from the bunk next to her and she pulled her blanket up under her chin as she listened.

"Je ne renonce pas que Laurent facile," The man in the bunk next to her scoffed. "vous devriez le savoir maintenant."

"Avez-vous vu avec qui elle est? Choisissez vos batailles avec sagesse, James." A voice mumbled from above her and Claire assumed it was his friend from earlier.

"J'aime les défis!" He chuckled.

Claire felt her heart pounding against her chest, and dared not move incase they heard her. She waited until she could hear soft snoring and sat up as slowly as she could. Grabbing her valuables, she slipped out and tiptoed to Quil's bunk.

She lifted his curtain and found him sprawled across his still unmade bed, with the sheets tangled around his bare legs and his head under his pillow. She pushed her things into the small compartment where he'd placed his phone and wallet and climbed over him.

"What are you doing?" Quil mumbled from under the pillow.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." She whispered as his head appeared and his confused, sleep riddled eyes gazed up at her. "I heard those guys talking about me, I don't feel safe so I thought that…if you don't mind…"

Quil's hand gripped her hips and pushed her the rest of the way over his body, next to the wall. He sat up and untwisted the sheet and pulled it up over them, laying back with his arm stretched out as he waited for her to get comfortable against him.

"Thank you." She said quietly, resting her head on his shoulder and he sighed, squeezing her to him.

"Anytime." He mumbled. "And we'll leave tomorrow."

"Oh no that's okay!" She lifted her head to look at him and he opened one eye. "We've already paid…"

"We're not staying here if you don't feel safe!" Quil replied, his voice loud enough to disturb the person in the bunk above. "You're worth more than forty euros, Claire. We'll find somewhere after breakfast, okay?"

Claire put her head back on his shoulder, her arm across his waist and she felt him rest his chin on the top of her head. "Goodnight Quil."

"Night Claire-bear."

* * *

**"Could you tell me where to find a taxi?"**

**"Yes. Go round to the left…and there should be some waiting"**

**"Eiffel Tower please."**

**"Hello, I was wondering if you had any vacancies for tonight?"**

**"You speak French pretty girl?"**

**"I do not give up that easy Laurent…You should know by now."**

**"Have you seen who she is with? Pick your battles wisely James."**

**"I love a challenge!"**


	4. Chapter 4

Claire woke the next morning squashed against the wall and a heavy weight across her waist. She turned her head only for Quil to snort and bury his face further into her hair, and the arm he'd flung across her at some point on the night pulled her to him, bridging a non-existent gap between them and smacking his lips.

"Quil?" She whispered, gently nudging his leg with the back of her foot "I need to get out."

Quil frowned, his eyes remaining closed as he mumbled. "Eiffel Tower…got nothing on me…" His legs curled up behind hers, hips pressed against her butt and her eye's widened.

"Quil!" She shouted and pushed backwards making him jump and fall from the bunk with a thud. She slipped out after him, standing over his body as he lay tangled in the bed sheet, groaning.

"What the fuck!" He yelled pushing himself into a sitting position. "What the hell did you do that for?"

"I woke up and you…you had…" She blushed and crossed her arms over her chest, her eyes flicking quickly down to the tented sheet in his lap and back up again.

"It's morning, what do you expect?" He groaned rising from the floor holding the sheet at his waist. "I'm sorry I poked you but I can't help what happens to it while I'm sleeping…at least now I know it's still working, no thanks to you!"

"You ran up on me!" Claire stamped her foot and turned back to her own bunk after quickly glancing round the rest of the room and finding it, thankfully, empty.

"What are you doing?" Quil sighed dropping down on his bunk, watching as she dove into her bag and began pulling out fresh clothes and her toiletry bag. "Listen, Claire I really am sorry. I honestly didn't know what was happening and I would never have done something like that on purpose…without asking." He added with a smirk.

She shook her head, barely fighting her own smile. "I'm gonna go in the shower, I'll meet you back here in fifteen okay?" Quil nodded as she left the room before flopping back on the mattress and pulling the pillow back over his head.

He jumped back up when the door to the room flew open. "I didn't go back to sleep!" he exclaimed before he realized it wasn't Claire.

"Forgive me, I did not mean to startle you." The man chuckled with a thick accent. Noticing how Quil had suddenly stiffened he held out his hand. "Allow me to introduce myself? I am Laurent Moreau."

"Quil Ateara." He replied shaking his hand before standing back up and fishing in his bag for clean clothes. He pulled off his shirt and dropped his boxers unashamedly, pulling on a fresh pair and spraying himself with deodorant.

"Where are you from?" Laurent asked perching on the side of the next bunk and smiled. "Obviously you are from America but, where exactly?"

"Uh, La Push." Quil said buttoning his jeans. "Washington State. You?"

"La Rochelle. It is in Western France." He explained. "And your girlfriend? She from Washington State too?"

"Claire? No she isn't…" He shook his head, deciding not to correct him. "We met a college."

"You are a very lucky man. Claire was it?" Laurent queried and Quil nodded. "She is a very beautiful young lady."

"Your friend seemed to think so." Quil scowled throwing his dirty clothes into his bag.

"Ah yes, James. He can be a little too brazen sometimes, especially when it comes to a pretty girl like Claire. I'm afraid that has little respect for boundaries and sometimes it gets him in trouble."

"Well tell him to consider me her boundary okay? I didn't like the way he was looking at her and I'd appreciate it if he didn't do it again." He cocked an eyebrow and Laurent grinned.

"I'll do that!" Laurent nodded. "You know, James isn't all that bad once you get to know him. Maybe once Claire has finished in the bathroom we could all go for some breakfast together?"

Quil frowned. "How do you know where she is?" Laurent's eyes widened for a fraction of a second, but it was enough for Quil to notice. "Where's James?"

* * *

Claire walked into the small women's bathroom and stood in front of the sink. As she waited for the person already in the shower she pulled off her pajamas and wrapped the towel round her body.

"Buenos días." A tall, dark skinned woman smiled as she emerged from the shower stall and Claire nodded politely as she passed her and left the room. She picked up her small bag and wondered into the stall, hanging her towel on the back of the door and depositing her shampoo and body wash on the small corner shelf.

The water ran warm and she stepped under the stream, pushing the water through her hair. She washed her hair and rinsed her body, running her toes through the bubbles that pooled at her feet, when the door to the bathroom opened.

"If you need the shower, I'll be out in just a minute!" Claire called out, turning the faucet to shut of the water. She grabbed blindly for the towel and wiped her eyes before wrapping it around her body and collecting her things.

She couldn't help the surprised yelp that left her lips when she unlocked the stall door and stepped out to find James firmly planted in front of the main door with his hand on the lock.

"This….This is the girl's bathroom you shouldn't be in here!" She exclaimed gripping the join of the towel at her chest until her knuckles turned white.

"Such a beautiful face." He growled out stalking towards her, a smirk on his lips as his eyes traveled from her feet, lingered on her chest and ended at her wide eyes. "I've been dying to see what the rest of you looks like? Are you as innocent as you seem?"

"Stay away from me!" Claire backed up. "I'll scream."

"Good, it's more fun that way!" He chuckled and made a grab for her arm, missing by millimeters as she darted back into the stall and clicked the lock in place. "You can't hide in there forever, little girl!"

Claire backed into the corner, jumping as James' fist connected with the door, causing it to shudder. "Quil! Help! Somebody?" She screamed.

The small lock buckled under the force of James' shoulder, the door narrowly missing Claire as it swung open. She scratched at his arm as he gripped the towel and pulled it from her body.

"Claire!" Quil's muffled voice called through the door as he banged against it. "Claire? Are you in there? Why's this fucking door locked?"

"Quil! Help me please!" She screeched, as James caught her hair in his fist and yanked her head back.

"I'd better make this quick!" James licked his lips. "Such a shame, I was hoping to take my time with you."

Claire heard Quil shouting for someone to get the key as James pushed her against the cold tile, savagely biting down on the crook of her neck and causing her to yelp in pain.

With an almighty crash the main door flew open to reveal a red face Quil, his eyes wide with rage as they locked on to James. "Get the fuck off her!"

James' eyes widened with fear as Quil grabbed the back of his head and pushed him to the floor, grunting as his booted foot connected with his stomach. "I'm gonna rip your head off!" Quil spat, landing another kick.

"Quil!" A small voice drew his attention and he span towards the shower stall to find Claire, huddled naked in the corner.

"Claire!" He ran towards her and sank to his knees, pulling her against him, the water from the floor soaking into his jeans and her fingers clawing at his shirt as she sobbed into his shoulder. "Are you hurt? What did he do? Talk to me honey, please?" He begged, pulling her head back only for her to shake her head.

"Que diable avez-vous pensé?" Laurent yelled over James' prone body. "Vous m'avez dit que vous voulez lui parler!"

Quil reached for the towel that James had discarded on the floor and wrapped it around Claire's quivering form, gently pulling her to her feet and lifting her into his arms. He walked into the main hall way where a small crowd had gathered.

"I called police." One girl said and Quil recognized her as the girl from the front desk. "I send them to your room."

Quil nodded and carried on down the hallway until he reach the room, softly kicking the door shut behind him before placing Claire in his bunk. He grabbed her bag and pulled out jeans and a tank top.

"Let's get you warm, huh?" He said quietly, pulling the top over her soaking wet hair and helping her thread her arms through. He tugged her hair out of the way, visibly tensing when he saw the angry bite mark on her neck, turning away as she dropped the towel and pulled up her jeans.

Claire hugged herself and shivered. Quil unzipped his sweater and hung it over her shoulders as he sat next to her and she silently climbed into his lap and snuggled into his body.

"Did…Did he…" He stammered, looping his arms around her.

"No." He felt her shake her head against his chest. "You got there in time."

His arms tightened around her and a whoosh of breath escaped him as he squeezed his eyes shut.

* * *

"What happened then Mister Ateara?" The officer asked as he wrote down the last piece of Quil's statement.

"I got to the bathroom door and I heard a scream, so I shouted for her and tried the door but it was locked. Laurent was next to me…" The policeman cut him off.

"Laurent is his companion, yes?" He asked and Quil nodded.

"He said to me that James had said he wanted to talk to Claire. They'd seen her go into the bathroom and he told Laurent he was going to wait for her to come out so he could talk to her while she was alone and asked him to keep me out of the way." He explained.

"And you believe this is when Mister Moreau came to the room and started talking to you?" The officer scribbled something else.

"Yeah." Quil sighed.

"Have you ever met these men before?" He questioned and Quil shrugged.

"We met them last night when they came back to the room. I left Claire alone to go and use the bathroom and when I came back they were there, James was talking to her and she seemed relieved that I'd come back." He offered and the pen scratched across the page. "She…Claire, last night she came into my bunk. She said that she could hear them talking about her and that it made her uncomfortable, I didn't hear what they were saying though."

"Okay." The officer glanced up. "Back to the bathroom incident. What happened after you tried the door?"

"She called for me and then I heard her scream again and no one had the key so I ran at the door. He…James, had her cornered in the shower stall; she didn't have any clothes on." He swallowed. "I pulled him from her and pushed him to the floor. And then I kicked him…Twice.

I covered her up and carried her back to the room, that's when I noticed the mark on her neck."

"Are you sure that mark wasn't old?" He cocked an eyebrow.

"It was bleeding." Quil answered stiffly.

"How long have you and Miss Young been together?" The question caught Quil slightly of guard and he frowned as the officer flicked through some papers. "Mister Moreau stated that you claimed she was your girlfriend, is that correct?"

"No," Quil shook his head as he thought back to their conversation in the room. "He asked if my girlfriend was from the same state as me. I didn't correct him because I thought that he would tell James and maybe he would back off Claire. But no, we're not together she's just a friend… Am I going to be charged?"

"For what, Mister Ateara?" The officer cocked an eyebrow.

"I told you," He frowned. "I kicked him twice."

"I don't recall you saying that." The officer smirked. "Non of the witnesses mentioned anything? Now please read over your statement, sign it and you can collect your lady friend and go."

Quil's frown deepened as he read over the statement, noting that any admission that he'd made about assaulting James had been left out. He signed it and pushed it back across the table.

"Thank you Mister Ateara you a free to go." He smiled, pushing the sheet of paper into a thin folder. "Au revior."

Quil mumbled a goodbye and made his way back out to the small waiting room where he found Claire, bouncing anxiously in her chair with both their bags at there feet.

As soon as she saw him she flew at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Quil! I thought they were going to keep you in. I heard James yelling that you assaulted him and that he wanted to press charges."

Quil shook his head and whispered. "According to the officer who took my statement, it never happened. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," She nodded as he brushed her hair from her face. "I've definitely been better. I told them that he didn't…do anything but that checked and took swabs and stuff. I would really like to go and have a bath, could we maybe stay at a real hotel for a few nights?"

"Sure." Quil kept her under his arm as he led her back to the chairs and picked up there things. He guided her outside to hail a taxi and instructed the driver, who thankfully understood enough English, to take them to the nearest hotel and they traveled in peaceful silence.

When they arrived at the hotel, Quil thanked the driver and helped Claire from the car. "I'll try and get us rooms next to each other." He said turning towards the reception but Claire gripped his arm.

"I'll do it, you'll just shout at the poor man!" She chuckled nervously. "Would you mind if we shared a room? I just…I'll think…"

"It's fine," Quil squeezed her arm and she smiled turning to the receptionist.

"Quil, they need to copy your passport." She called a few minutes later and he trotted back to the desk with his passport in hand.

"Why don't you go sit down for a minute, I'll get this." He offered and she nodded and went to sit with their bags.

"Okay," The receptionist returned to his seat with both there passports and two pieces of paper in his hand. "One twin room for two nights. That will be three hundred and four euros, two cents please."

Quil pulled out his money and handed it to the man, taking back the passports in the process. He glanced down at Claire's and frowned.

"Sir?" Quil's head snapped up. "Your change and your room keys, number two oh seven, lifts are on the right. I hope you enjoy your stay."

He thanked the receptionist quietly, Claire's passport still clutched tightly in his hand as he made his way back over to her.

"All set?" She asked, rising from her seat. "What's wrong?"

"Seventeen?" Quil blanched. "Why the fuck didn't you tell me how old you are?"

"Can we please not do this here?" Claire pleaded, glancing around at the people staring at them. "Please?"

He huffed and grabbed the bags, stalking toward the elevator and almost punching the button for the second floor. When they reached the room it took him three tries of the key card to get the door open before barging inside, throwing his key down and dropping into a chair under the window.

"Well?" He pushed as Claire paced in front of him. "I could get in trouble for this Claire, do you understand that? I'm almost twenty three and you're a minor!"

"I'm sorry!" Claire cried sinking to the bed. "I know I should have told you but…"

"Damn right you should have!" Quil stood and pushed his fingers in to his shaggy hair. "I mean what the hell Claire? What were you doing in the campus library that day? Are you even a student?"

"I was waiting for you; I was your study buddy." She replied softly, picking at her cuticles. "When you came in that day I thought you knew, you said you'd checked my driver's license but you didn't say anything...so neither did I. I was so tired of it."

"Tired of what?" He asked, rubbing his face.

"My parents have always pushed me. When I got to eighth grade they enrolled me in summer school for extra credits, I went every summer until I was fifteen. When I was in tenth my point average and credits were high enough to pass out so they put me in evening classes for college level mathematics. I passed the first year and graduated high school when I was sixteen." She explained. "I got accepted at Seattle, this is my first year. I made friends at first but then they found out how old I was and that was it. They didn't want me at there parties and the most my room mate has spoken to me was when you turned up the other day. But you treated me different; you treated me like you would a friend, cursed in front of me made jokes."

"But I wouldn't have if…" He began.

"I know," She said cutting him off, her eye's watering. "You would have left me there in the library, we would have never had lunch and you would never have brought me here. It may be hard to believe, especially after today, but this is the best time I've had…ever! I actually feel free to be myself and not the over achieving little girl that I'm expected to be!"

Quil sighed and tipped his head back. "We can't stay here, come on." He picked up his bag and headed for the door. "Maybe if I beg they'll give me back the money for the second night."

"Quil please?" Claire exclaimed gripping his wrist. "Where are you going?"

"Home." He shrugged. "We're going home, before either of us get into any more trouble."

"But what about the Eiffel Tower?" She asked pathetically.

"You're only seventeen; you'll have plenty of time to see it later on!" He snapped before hanging his head. "Sorry."

Claire pulled her bag up onto the bed and reached into it, pulling out a stuffed sock. She sniffed and wiped her eyes as she flicked through the bills and handed them to Quil. "This should cover the room and your flight home. I'm staying here."

"Claire!" He balked. "You can't stay here on your own, what about…"

"I'm old enough to look after myself thanks." She said stiffly shoving the money at his chest. "Now if you don't mind it's been a long day, I'd like to get some sleep."

Quil stared at her, his mouth open as she turned away and headed for the bathroom and he hear her start a bath. He glanced at the money in his hand and placed it on the bed. "Bye Claire-Bear."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Okay, it's not brilliant but I promise I'm going somewhere with this! Translations at the bottom, courtesy of Google translate.**

* * *

Claire sat on the edge of the tub, her head in her hands as the water level slowly crept up and over her ankles. She twisted around and placed her feet on the mat, pulling the zip of Quil's sweatshirt and slipping it off her shoulders before dropping the rest of the clothes to the floor.

She lowered her self into the water, the heat enveloping her as the weight of the day came crashing down around her and tears began to spill freely and uncontrollably down her face.

Claire drew her wash cloth over her skin, rubbing until it had started to take on a pink hue but taking slightly more care over the bite mark that James had left on her neck, the purple bruise tacky from where the investigators had taken an impression.

She sat until the water began to turn cold, pushing herself up and out and grabbing the hotel's embroidered towel from the heater to wrap around her. She dried herself off and pulled on her pyjamas and Quil's sweatshirt before heading to bed. Her eyes were drawn to the bed next to hers, the small wad of money that she'd handed Quil sat neatly on the end.

Leaving the T.V. on and muted for its reassuring light, Claire pulled back the covers and slipped underneath, resting her head on her arm. Her eyes closed to fight off the next string of tears that were threatening to fall; breathing deeply her nose was filled with a scent that she now recognized as uniquely Quil's.

A soft knock at the door startled her. Wiping her eyes with her sleeve she pushed the covers back and padded nervously over to the door. "Who…who is it?" She called with no answer. Rising on to her tiptoes she looked out the peephole only to find complete blackness on the other side.

The knock sounded again and Claire drew in a deep breath, put the security chain across and opened the door to peep out, her eyes widening. "What are you doing here?"

"I couldn't figure out the damn Metro!" Quil grumbled pulling his finger off the peephole. "You gonna let me in?"

Claire stepped back from the door and unlatched the chain to let him through. He walked in and dumped his backpack and a paper bag on the end of the bed; he stood watching the floor his hands shoved deep into his pockets.

"You…you want me to call you a taxi?" Claire asked shuffling toward the phone. "I can…"

"I couldn't go," Quil cut her off with a large sigh. "I couldn't just leave you here, okay?"

Claire blinked in surprise and nodded as Quil grabbed the paper bag. "I don't know about you but I'm starving. I found this little place down the street that does subs so…" He handed her a sandwich. "It's chicken salad."

"Thanks." She smiled shyly. "You didn't have to."

"I know." He nodded dropping down on the edge of the bed, unwrapping his food to take a bite. "So the police called me to find out where we're staying." Food particles sprayed from his mouth. "They said to let you know that James is still in custody but Laurent is out. He managed to convince them he had no idea what James was planning to do."

Claire chewed slowly, staring down at the sandwich in her hands. "Do you think he was telling the truth?"

Quil shrugged. "I honestly don't know I mean he seemed genuine enough when we…when James…in the bathroom. Doesn't mean he was though." He grimaced and put his half eaten sub back in the wrapper. "Ugh! Who puts Avocado in a sandwich?"

"You want mine? I'll have yours, I don't mind Avocado." She offered holding it out to him but he shook his head.

"Nah its okay, I think I'll just jump in the shower. Do you need anything from the bathroom before I go in?" He asked.

"No." She said putting down her sandwich and grabbing the rest of his incase he changed his mind, listening to the hiss of the shower and the soft clunk of the shower door shutting, and she smiled when she heard him begin to hum.

The humming soon turned into a terrible rendition of 'Ca plane pour moi' and when Quil emerged from the shower, towel wrapped around his hips, he found Claire red faced and laughing uncontrollably on the floor between the beds. "Shut up!" He blushed pulling a pair of basketball shorts from his backpack and pulling them up underneath the towel before removing it and throwing it over her head.

"That has to be the funniest fucking thing I've ever heard!" She exclaimed with a grin, as he scowled and sat opposite her.

"Don't curse," he grumbled "it's unbecoming."

"I learned from the best!" Claire flicked her eyebrow and Quil shrugged and nodded. "Anything you want to do tonight? We can go out if you want or get pay per view?"

"What? I'm not watching porn with you!" Quil blanched and Claire chuckled.

"You know Quil? I really do worry about you sometimes!" She picked up the T.V remote and brought up the menu. "I was actually thinking more along the lines of a regular movie, like…Oh look 'Dear John', I heard that's pretty good?" She turned to him and found him shaking his head vehemently and she sighed.

"Fine, what about 'Due Date' or…" Quil snatched the remote from her hand.

"Don't they have anything good on this fucking thing? Where's the horror?" He frowned flicking through the list. "Ah ha! Here were go 'Saw: The Final Cut' and ooh 'Piranha'"

"Do you mind if we don't?" Claire sighed throwing a glance at him. "I really think I've had more shocks than I can deal with today."

His eye's widened a little as he remembered and he nodded. "Due Date it is then." He selected the film and settled back against the foot of her bed and Claire rolling onto her stomach, her feet against the head board and head in her hands above Quil's. "Are you sure you're okay, Claire?"

"I'm fine, I promise." She reached down and squeezed his shoulder. "I never got a chance to thank you though."

"It's fine." He shrugged staring at the screen. "Anybody would have done it."

"Yeah but it wasn't anybody, it was you so…" She paused momentarily before leaning forward and wrapping both her arms around his neck and pressing her lips against his jaw. "Thank you for being there, for saving me."

Quil patted her forearm, hesitantly turning his head to look at her, an uneasy smile on his face. "You're welcome." Claire's phone vibrated on the bedside table. "You should probably get that."

Claire's arms slipped from his body and she pushed herself back up the bed and grabbed the phone, greeting her mom cheerfully and Quil listened intently as she spoke.

"No mom, I'm fine I'm not alone." She explained "A friend…well if you knew why did you ask? No don't put daddy on! Shit!"

Quil chuckled, wincing when the remote control flew past his head and he turned to find her giving him the finger.

"What? No you can't…fine," She tapped him on the shoulder. "Quil? My dad wants to talk to you."

Quil balked as she offered him the phone, thrusting it toward him when he didn't take it straight away. "Uh, hello…Sir."

"Yes sir, I know she's only seventeen…twenty two, sir…I can assure you sir, that my intention towards your daughter are nothing but honorable…I would never let anything happen too her Mister Young, I promise you that." His eyes met Claire's and she gave him a watery smile. "You have my full permission to run a background check on me sir…sure, here you go." He handed the phone back to her and reclaimed his place at the foot of the bed.

Claire ended the call and lay back on her stomach with a large sigh. "Well that went better than I expected! I doubt that's the end of it though, apparently my mother already knew I was with you, she called my dorm and my roommate was all too happy to tell her who I was with. Is my dad seriously going to run a background check on you?" Quil nodded. "Is he gonna find anything?"

"Drunk and disorderly, indecent exposure that sorta thing." Quil shrugged and grinned when she slapped the back of his head. "Okay, apart from stealing a Thundercats Comic when I was ten, my records clean as a whistle, I promise."

"Glad to here it." She smiled clapping his shoulder and turning her attention to the T.V.

By the time the movie had finished, Quil had long since crawled into his twin bed and was snoring peacefully, and even with half his body hanging off the side he looked huge in comparison.

Claire lay on her own bed, absently chewing her thumb nail as her eyes flicked between Quil and the room door. She'd told him she was fine and she meant it, but she was still nervous even with him between her and any potential intruder.

She stood quietly and tiptoed to the front door, flicking the lock and slipping the security chain across, taking one last peek out of the peephole before running back to bed and burrowing under the covers.

"Stop it!" A tired voice demanded and her head shot around to find Quil's head turned towards her, his eyes half closed. "I can hear you thinking from here, so just stop it and go to sleep."

"Sorry." She mumbled rolling away and pulling the sheet under her chin, squeezing her eye's closed but still unable to stop the images from earlier in the day playing behind her eyes.

"You're still doing it." Quil grumbled. "It's been a long day; you need to sleep Claire-Bear. We both do."

"I really am sorry I just…I just can't seem to stop…" She trailed off, her voice cracking slightly and her nose stinging. "I'll be fine, you sleep."

Quil let out a soft sigh and moments later she felt the mattress behind her dip, the sheet pulled from her face to reveal Quil hovering over her.

"Scoot over; I need more room than you." He said and she hurriedly moved, pulling the covers back only for him to shake his head and resituate them over her. "I'll stay on top of the covers, thanks."

Her body instantly relaxed as he curled into her, his arm slung lazily over her waist and his warm breath gently flowing over the top of her head. The feeling of being enveloped in him soon had her eye's feeling heavy.

"I really am sorry Quil," she whispered "for…everything."

"There's nothing for you to apologize for." He replied sleepily. "Me on the other hand? If I hadn't persuaded you to come here, then you would never have met…you'd be safe at home. So, I'm sorry."

"I didn't have to say yes Quil. And if I'd told you the truth in the first place, well, then we'd never have been here would we?" Claire turned her head to find him staring at her with heavy eyes. She blushed and faced the window. "But if you want the truth? There's no where else I'd rather be right now."

Quil's arm tightened around her stomach. "Well let's agree to disagree. Now, let me sleep or you're spending the night in the damn bathtub!"

* * *

Claire was woken by a sudden downward momentum, a soft landing and a grumbling Quil.

"Fuck! Move your knee, please? Now!" He wheezed as Claire pushed herself up onto her hands and started to untangle her legs from his. "Not that way!" He grabbed her thigh and lifted her leg from his lap, puffing his cheeks out with a large breath as he rolled onto his stomach, his forehead pressed into the carpet.

"What the hell happened?" She frowned sitting up and pushing her hair from her face.

"You're a grabby sleeper, that's what's happened!" He hissed crawling across the floor to his bag. "You somehow managed to completely loose the sheets, the pillows and pin me underneath you in the process, you're like some kind of nocturnal ninja. Ordinarily I would have taken great pleasure in the situation, but I really need to fucking piss and I was trying to get out un-noticed."

Claire glanced around the room as Quil disappeared into the bathroom without shutting the door, the sound of splashing water accompanied by a satisfied groan. Sure enough the bed sheets were balled up and forgotten at the bottom of the bed, the pillows were tossed across the room and the sweatshirt she'd fallen asleep in was now half hidden under his divan.

She pulled herself up and started collecting the discarded bedding, putting it backing its rightful place before grabbing clothes from her bag.

Quil emerged from the bathroom with his jeans hanging undone at his waist and toothbrush in his mouth, attempting to talk around it. Claire cocked and eyebrow at him "Sorry I don't speak garble, again in English please?"

He held up a finger, motioning for her to wait as he went to rinse his mouth before walking back to her. "I said get dressed, I want to go out."

She nodded and ran to the bathroom, hurriedly pulling on her cloths and tying up her hair, almost running straight into Quil as she re-entered the room to find her shoes.

"You ready?" He asked turning to her, stuffing his wallet into his back pocket and grabbing the room key.

"Sure, just let me grab a sweater." Claire smiled and turned to her bag and Quil visibly winced as his eyes caught sight of the bruise on her neck. Her face fell and she reached up, freeing her hair from the ponytail and letting it cascade over her shoulder.

"Claire I'm sorry, I…" He began but she shook her head.

"Don't worry. I wasn't looking in the mirror when I brushed my hair, I completely forgot." She pushed a small smile on her face and his face mirrored hers.

"Come on," Quil grabbed her hand and pulled open the door "I'll buy you an ice-cream."

* * *

They sat cross legged on the Champs De Mars, the tower looming over them and the warm sun beating down.

"Come on try it?" Quil said holding out his ice cream cone and Claire shook her head. "Oh come on, just a little?"

"Uh, no thanks I'll stick to chocolate." She replied swiping her tongue over her own cone and leaning back on her free hand, her head lolling back as she closed her eyes.

A squeal escaped her lips when Quil jabbed his ice cream against her cheek, a smirk splitting his face. "Come on just a little bit."

"You ass!" Claire exclaimed lunging forward, toppling him backwards as he fought to keep her away from his face. "What? You don't want to try mine?" She giggled squashing it against his mouth.

The giggle turned into a full blown laugh as she sat back on his legs, looking down at his chocolate covered scowl. "Hold that thought." She tittered, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a digital camera, clicking away until he grabbed it from her grip.

"Come here." He pulled her down next to him and held the camera away to fit both of them in the picture, chuckling as he viewed the result.

Claire produced some napkins and proceeded to clean her face while Quil did the same; her eye's shifting towards the tower.

"You wanna go up today?" Quil asked, motioning towards it and she shook her head.

"Nah, I think I want that to be last the last thing we do, the last memory I have here." She squinted against the sun. "Hey give me that, I want to see if I can get someone to take our picture."

Quil handed over the camera and Claire approached a middle aged couple sat on a bench a few feet away.

"Excusez-moi? Uh, pourriez-vous prendre une photo s'il vous plaît?" She held out the camera and the woman smiled and nodded, standing as Claire gestured Quil over and he pulled her against him, his arms wrapped firmly around her shoulders as he grinned at the camera and a warm blush spread over her cheeks.

The woman pressed the button and smiled, handing it back to Claire. "L'amour des jeunes, quelle merveille! Vous avez l'air très heureux ensemble." She said softly and the pink hue of her cheeks burned red.

"Merci." Quil nodded at the couple and pulled Claire away. "That does mean thank you, right? What did she say to you?"

Claire smiled up at him. "Oh nothing much, just that we seem happy."

"Well good, I am happy." His arm wrapped around her shoulders and he smiled down at her as she tentatively slipped her arm around his waist. "So Claire-Bear, anywhere else you wanna go while we're here? Cause' I was kinda hoping we could hit Disneyland."

"Disneyland? What are you five?" She balked and he playfully pinched her.

"You're never to old for Disney, as soon as you walk through those gates it's like puberty never happened." He exclaimed. "It's the happiest place on earth you know!"

"I wouldn't actually, I've never been." Claire mumbled and Quil suddenly stopped walking. She turned to find him staring open mouthed at her.

"Really?" She nodded. "But it's a right of passage! You watch the parade, eat your body weight in cotton candy and then wait in line for three hours just so you can get on the ride and throw it all back up again!"

"I told you last night, I didn't really get to do much outside of school." She shrugged. "It's no big deal."

"Of course it's a big deal!" Quil exclaimed. "That settles it, tomorrow me and you Claire- Bear, we're going Disney."

"Hey Quil? Why do you call me that?" She asked as they started walking again.

"It rhymes." He shrugged.

* * *

"pourriez-vous prendre une photo s'il vous plaît?" - "Could you take a picture please?"

"L'amour des jeunes, quelle merveille! Vous avez l'air très heureux ensemble." - " Young love, how wonderful! you look very happy together." (I think? I blame Google translate.)


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thank you for all my reviews, I really do appreciate the time you take! Just a quick warning, I'm going to trash some popular fairy-tales in this chapter, you may never look at Sleeping Beauty in the same light ever again!**

* * *

"_Turn back, turn back, thou pretty bride,_

_Within this house thou must not abide._

For here do evil things betide_."_

** - Brothers Grimm (Cinderella and Other Tales.)**

"First things first." Quil grinned as they walked onto Main Street U.S.A, running towards a street vendor and hiding something in front of his body while handing over money. "Close your eye's"

"Not happening." Claire huffed petulantly.

"Oh don't be such a spoil sport. Don't you trust me?" He said pushing out his bottom lip in an effort to appear hurt.

"More than anyone, but I'm still not closing my eyes!" She scoffed.

"Fine, just turn around." Quil sighed and she rolled her eyes. "Please?"

Claire folded her arms across her body and span on her heel, fidgeting as she felt Quil step up behind her, the open zip of his sweatshirt brushing against her back as he lifted his arms and placed something on her head.

"Okay, now turn around." He asked directing her to a shop window and chuckling.

Claire couldn't help the smile that broke out on her face as she saw her reflection in the glass. "My very first pair of mouse ears! Thank you!" She whirled round and threw her arms around his neck.

"Come on." He said squeezing her back before tucking her into his side and walking down the street. "Any where you want to go?"

Claire glanced at the little map in her hand and pursed her lips. "You mind if we work up to the big rides? I think I want to let breakfast go down a little, how about the tea-cups?"

Quil stared down at her. "You're serious aren't you?"

"Completely!" She grinned and Quil whined. "Oh come on, this is my first time here I'm sure you can manage one ride on the cups?"

"Ugh, fine but just one!" He grabbed her hand and dragged her towards Fantasyland. "Just for this we're doing Space Mountain twice."

Claire glanced around in awe as he led her through the park. When they passed Sleeping Beauty's castle she stood open mouthed, staring up at it while Quil chuckle behind her. "What is it about girls and princess castles?"

"Are you kidding? It's not about the castle at all!" Quil cocked an eyebrow and she huffed. "Okay maybe it's a little about the castle but mostly it's about the story…the fairy-tale. Every girl, whether they admit it or not, wants to be the beautiful princess who finds her true love in that one perfect moment.

A lost slipper or a kiss that breaks a spell and they all live happily ever after."

"You have no idea how wrong you are!" Quil scoffed and pointed at the castle. "Take the story of Sleeping Beauty for example. Now, Disney would have you believe that the bad fairy get's pissed off, puts a curse on the princess which comes to fruition when she's fifteen and pricks her finger on a spinning wheel only to be awoken by true loves first kiss."

"I'm not going to like this am I?" Claire crossed her arms over her chest.

"In the really early versions of the story the princess doesn't prick her finger, she gets a piece of flax stuck under her nail which sends her to sleep and when the prince finds her he thinks she's so beautiful he goes ahead and fucks her while she's still comatose." He chuckled at the abject horror on Claire's face. "Not only that he get's her pregnant and she gives birth to twins and it isn't until one of them sucks on her finger while seeking out milk that she finally wakes up. Your fairy-tales aren't so appealing any more are they?" He grinned.

"That's disgusting…so wrong on so many levels." Claire exclaimed.

"That's not even the worse of them!" He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and guided her through the archway. "The Grimm version of Snow White states that she's just seven years old when she's exiled to the forest which means she's probably not even ten when the prince finds her and takes her away to marry her. Add to that the her step mothers penchant for cannibalism and the subsequent torture she receives in the form of being made to dance while wearing red hot iron shoes until she drops dead? All of a sudden a teenage girl sharing a house with seven male dwarfs doesn't seem like the worst option."

"How the hell do you know this stuff?" Claire asked as she shuddered.

"I may have been a bit of an asshole when I was younger." He shrugged. "My little sister loved everything pink and princess and one day she decided she wanted to watch Cinderella while I was watching something. I told her no and she threw a gigantic hissy fit until my mom gave her what she wanted and I was so fucking pissed! So one day I was at the school library and I found the Grimm versions and I read them to her - in great detail.

She never watched Cinderella again. Apparently the idea of the step sisters mutilating their own feet to fit into the glass slipper ruined it for her. Can't imagine why, it makes for much better story telling!"

"You're right, you were an asshole!" Claire shook her head. "Let's go before you crush anymore of my childhood dreams."

"You mean don't want to hear about the cannibalistic and inter-species sexual connotations of Little Red Riding Hood? Ouch!" He chuckled and massaged his rib cage where she'd landed a little punch before stomping off in the direction of the ride. He jogged after her, catching her hand and spinning her round, pausing for a moment to straighten the mouse ears on her head. "I'm sorry Claire-bear, I was just trying to be funny and obviously humor escapes me today. Forgive me?"

Claire frowned and pursed her lips. "Two goes on the tea-cups and you're buying lunch!"

"Deal." He nodded walking them into the line. When it was their turn Quil ushered her into a green cup, point blank refusing to get in a pink one and began spinning them before they were even moving. Claire howled with laughter as they went faster and faster, their surroundings becoming unfocused and blurry as her eyes began to water.

As the ride slowed down, her senses returned and Quil watched as she stiffened, all traces of her smile fading and the pink flush of excitement drained from her cheeks.

Claire's brown eye's locked on to cold, ice blue and the sneer that made her stomach drop and her heart thrum in her chest.

_James._

The cup turned and she whipped her head around, desperately seeking conformation of what she'd seen but finding nothing but an empty space where he'd stood.

"Hey," Quil tugged her arm "are you okay?"

Claire nodded still glancing around. "Yeah I'm fine I just…I thought I saw someone I recognized."

He frowned but didn't push any further. "Come on let's go join the queue again." He said standing from the cup and helping her out.

"No it's fine, we can go do something you want." She molded into his side, leaning to his warmth.

"You sure nothings wrong? You're shivering." She nodded again.

"Must have caught a breeze or something." She pushed a smile on to her face. "Serves me right for leaving my coat back in the room, huh? Come on, didn't you say something about Space Mountain?"

With one final glance behind her, Claire tugged Quil alongside her and headed away from the ride.

A few hours later Claire had finally managed to push James to the back of her mind and Quil dragged her crying with laughter, from the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' after one particularly bad Jack Sparrow impression.

"Okay," she hiccupped "what now?"

Quil looked at his watch. "Well it almost six, and we've done most of it but is there anything you want to do again?" Claire shook her head. "I never did buy you that lunch so how about we do one more ride and then I'll take you to dinner?"

"Sounds good!" She nodded and the mouse ears slipped forward.

Quil smiled and reached out to straighten them, his hand slipping into her hair and tucking it behind her ear before he pulled it back and cleared his throat. "So what did you want to do?"

Claire blinked and shook her head a little before unfolding her well used map. "How about…the labyrinth? I'll race you to the middle, last one there looses their head!"

"Sure." He nodded and started walking, glancing back at her with a smirk and she narrowed her eyes and sped up to get in front of him. "Not so fast babe!"

Claire yelped when he grabbed her and pulled her back before breaking out into a run and leaving her momentarily stunned. "Hey no fair! We're not even near it yet!"

Quil stopped and turned around. "Then you better start running!" He yelled over the crowd, picking up his pace with a chuckle when Claire followed after him.

Giggles bubbled in her chest as she watched him disappear through the entrance to the maze with no care for anyone around him and almost taking out another man on his way past, earning him a piercing glare and a rude gesture.

Claire ran under the cover of the hedge tunnel, emerging at a fork in the maze, surrounded by signs that pointed in various, confusing directions.

'_Which way'_

'_That way'_

'_Under'_

'_Over' _

'_Go back' _

"You could at least try to present a challenge!" Quil's voice rang out from somewhere to her right and she giggled, running again, following his voice.

"How can anything be a challenge when you're just going to cheat?" She shouted, pausing for his reply.

"I prefer not to think of it as cheating and more as leveling the playing field." He replied and she whipped around.

"How do you work that one out?" She smiled and crept around a hedge and past the dodo bird, expecting to find him on the other side.

"I have no shame in admitting you're smarter than me Claire-bear." She could hear the smile in his voice. "You could find your way to the centre in no time and I know you're following the sound of my voice but-I'm faster than you, it's my only advantage and I plan on using it."

Footsteps behind her caught her attention and she ducked behind the dodo. Peeking around the side of the statue and saw the bottom of his denim clad legs as he darted from one break in the maze to another.

"Come out, come out where ever you are!" Claire sang as she moved as silently as possible after him, watching his shadow shift behind the Cheshire Cats tree and running towards him. "Found…you."

She frowned when she found the space empty and jumped when there was a tap on her shoulder.

"Found you!" The thick accent in James' voice sent her stomach plummeting. Without turning she ran, listening as his footsteps grew closer and louder.

"Quil!" She screamed, darting back to where she thought the entrance might be and coming back out at the tree. "Quil please!"

"When will you learn that you can't run from me little girl?" James spat grabbing at her hair and jolting her head back, her mouse ears clattering to the floor.

"Get the fuck off me!" She hissed through her tears, pulling against his grip. James moved his hand from her hair to her neck, running his calloused finger tips against the crescent shaped bruises he'd left there, pressing into them and causing her to whimper.

"Claire?" James' head turned sharply at the closeness of Quil's voice. "Where are you?"

"I'll always find you." James sneered shoving her to the ground and running out of sight moments before Quil appeared.

"Claire what the fuck are you doing?" Quil demanded as he spotted her crumpled form, kneeling in front of her and grabbing her face. "Shit! Claire what happened?"

"James." She whispered.

His mouth fell open in surprise, thumbing away the streams of tears. "He was here? You saw him?"

Claire nodded. "I thought I was following you. He grabbed me."

"Jesus!" Quil glanced around him and stood, pulling Claire with him. "Wait? Is that what was wrong earlier? Did you see him when we were at the tea-cups?"

"I know I should have told you, but I only saw him for a second, I wasn't entirely sure…" She sobbed but he cut her off.

"You wouldn't have reacted that way if you didn't believe it was him!" He blanched. "Why the fuck didn't you say something, anything? Do you have any idea how much danger you put yourself in?"

Claire sobbed harder and pushed her face into his chest and he sighed, hugging her tighter. "Of course you do. I'm sorry babe I don't mean to be angry at you I just…everything I do put's you in the wrong place."

Quil reached into his back pocket, dialing the number while simultaneously guiding her through the maze and back towards the park exit.

Claire drowned out the sound of his voice, concentrating on the beat of his heart to calm her down and soon she found her self being shoved into a taxi.

"I just talked to Inspector Grenier, the guy who took my statement last night." He said softly as they drifted through the city. "James was released on bail early this morning. They're sending an officer to the hotel to take another statement and they've already got a warrant out for his arrest."

"Shit Quil I'm so sorry." A fresh wave of tears rolled over her and she hid behind her hands. "I should have just told you this morning, but I really wasn't sure and I didn't want to ruin the day!"

"It's not your fault Claire-bear." He gripped her wrist and pulled it from her face, twisting his fingers with hers. "They should have notified us as soon as he was bailed, somehow we got lost in the paperwork."

Claire rested her head on his shoulder with a sigh as his fingers carded through her hair and she shot back up. "I lost my mouse ears! They must have fallen off when…"

"Shhh," Quil pulled her back "forget about the damn ears, they're just a piece of plastic."

When they got to the hotel, Inspector Grenier was in the lobby waiting for them. They were escorted to a private office by the manager, who buzzed around them manically until he was forcibly removed by another officer.

Claire went over and over what had happened at the park, apologizing profusely to Quil and Grenier for not mentioning seeing James earlier in the day and Grenier apologized for not ensuring they had be told about his release.

They finished giving statements and stood to leave.

"Actually would you mind if I spoke to you for a minute?" Grenier asked Quil, throwing a quick glance to Claire. "Alone? My colleague will escort Miss Young to the room."

Quil nodded and tried to smile reassuringly at Claire as she left the room.

Grenier gestured back to the seat that Quil had vacated and waited for him to sit. "I can't apologize enough for allowing you to be put in that situation, James Duane should never have left custody but we didn't get our information fast enough and we had to let him go."

"What are you talking about?" Quil frowned leaning his elbows on the table.

"Forensics examined the cast of the bite mark he left on Claire's neck. They compared it to a series of similar marks that have been found on a spate of recent unsolved murders and they matched." Quil sat back wide eyed as the officer continued. "We've been searching for him for months, five bodies and no similarities apart from the bite marks, their age and the fact they were lone travelers staying at hostels the same time he was. He used a different name everytime and Laurent Moreau only joined him this past month so it's entirely possible he had no idea what he was up too.

He slipped up when he went for Claire, she wasn't alone. I won't divulge all the details but I will say that she is incredibly lucky to have escaped with her life once let alone twice."

"Do you have him yet?" Quil asked stiffly and Grenier shook his head.

"We have half our officers out looking for him but I doubt it will be that simple." He sighed. "I'm going to ask that you continue to stay here until further notice or until you're ready to leave. I'll have an officer stationed on your floor at all times incase he finds out where you are."

"Is that all?" Quil pushed himself to his feet as he nodded. "You'll let us know when you get him?"

"You'll be the first to know." Grenier replied. "And if you see him, don't approach him just call us."

"If I see him?" Quil sneered. "If I see him you'll need a coroner."

He left the room and made his way up to their room, nodding quickly at the officer who stood feet from their door as he let himself in, finding Claire dressed in her pajamas and his sweat shirt and sitting on her bed.

"What did he say?" She asked, hugging her knees and looking at him expectantly. Quil kicked of his shoes, pulled of his sweater and dropped his jeans to the floor before crossing the room towards her.

He perched on the edge of the bed and pulled her to him, pressing a kiss to the top of her head and sighing. "He just wanted to apologize again."

"Okay." Claire mumbled and then yawned.

Quil slipped from the bed and pulled back the covers, letting her lie down.

"Do you mind?" Claire blushed and he smiled softly shaking his head. He crossed the room to the other side of his bed and pushed against it until it was flush against hers.

"Just incase you get grabby again!" He said playfully earning him a little giggle as he slipped in behind her.

"Quil?" He hummed in response. "They caught him, right?"

Quil stared at the back of her head, his stomach twisting painfully. "Yeah. He won't get anywhere near you again."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: God! This was like getting blood from a stone and I think it shows. Oh well, I give up. Reviews (as always) are appreciated!**

* * *

"You gonna tell me what's on your mind?" Claire asked as she folded her pajamas and stuffed them under her pillow.

"What?" Quil tore his eyes from the T.V and glanced at her before shrugging. "Nothing."

"Okay," she climbed and the bed and crawled towards him, sitting on her knees and resting her chin on his shoulder "I may not have known you for that long but I have learned a little bit about you in that time. You're loud and talkative, blunt, crude and energetic to a point where I think you should be prescribed Ritalin but you've done nothing but sit there and stare at the T.V screen all morning. This isn't you Quil!"

When he failed to answer she leaned towards him, bringing her hand up to grip his chin and turned his face toward her. "What's wrong?"

Quil's eyes roamed her face, finally locking onto her eyes and he let out a soft sigh. "I think we should go home." He said quietly. "You need to be far away from this place, from…him. I promised your dad I wouldn't let anything to happen to you and I broke that promise-twice. I can't keep you safe but your parents can and there'll be and ocean between you and…"

"I don't want to go home." Claire cut him off. "I'm not ready to go home…not yet."

Her hand slid down to rest on his neck and she smiled softly. "You're my best friend Quil, I know you would never let anything hurt me and I've never felt safer than when I'm with you. James is behind bars, he can't get to me anymore so please? Relax."

He closed his eyes, breaking his gaze and swallowed deeply. "You should at least let your parents know what's going on."

"I will," She nodded and sprang from the bed "as soon as I get back."

"What? Where are you going? You can't go out!" He frowned, standing up and following her as she walked into the bathroom to grab a towel.

"I was reading the hotel information and they have a pool and spa in the basement, I thought I'd go for a swim." Claire dropped the towel onto the bed and grabbed her swimsuit from her bag. "I'm not even leaving the hotel but for future reference, if I want to go out? I'm going out! Besides we need to book the room for a couple more nights."

Quil opened his mouth to protest only for the bathroom door to shut in his face. He dropped to the bed with his head in his hands, desperately trying to think of a way to stop her as he waited for her to come back out.

"Why don't you come with me?" Quil prayed she didn't notice the widening of his eyes when she emerged minutes later dressed in a teal one piece and white shorts.

"Uh," he shook his head and pinched his nose "I don't have my swim shorts. Why don't we just go and do something else?"

"But I wanted to swim." Claire pouted. "Come on, you got boxers right? Can't you just swim in a pair of those? Can't be much different to wearing your Speedos?"

"I do not wear Speedos!" He growled. "And fine, I'll come with you but can you wait an hour? I had that really big breakfast and I don't want to get a cramp and have to come back early and you know, I was just thinking I might take a quick power nap cause' yesterday was a long fucking day and I'm still…"

"Ugh, fine Quil! Whatever!" Claire sighed cutting her eyes at him and flopping on to her side of the bed.

Quil quickly turned away so she wouldn't see the triumphant smirk plastered across his face. He slid onto his side listening as she flicked the T.V on to a music channel and mumbled under her breath.

A little while later Claire heard his breathing soften and level out. She sat upright and leaned over to see his eyes closed and his mouth slightly open- completely asleep.

As quietly as possible, she stood from the bed and walked to the desk, scribbling on a piece of paper before folding it and placing it on the pillow next to his head. She shoved her feet into a pair of hotel slippers, grabbed her towel and key card and tip toed out the room.

"Bonjour!" Claire waved at the officer that sat against the wall opposite the elevator and door to the stairwell. She had been surprised when she opened the door to put out the mornings breakfast dishes to find him standing there watching her closely, but Quil had told her it was just a precaution in case Laurent decided to show his face, although she didn't think he would.

"Bonjour mademoiselle." He nodded. "Vous allez quelque part?"

"Oui, la piscine." The elevator dinged and she stepped inside. "Au revoir!" The officer gave her a tight lipped smile and pulled his radio up to his mouth as the doors closed.

The pool area was quiet. Two people had got into the elevator just as Claire was getting out, leaving just her and the life guard who sat stoically at the other end of the room.

Claire glanced around before making her way over to one of the loungers and dropping her towel and slippers on to it. She pulled a hair band from her wrist and piled her hair on top of her head and made sure the room key was safely tucked in her shorts pocket before slipping them off and stuffing them in the fold of her towel.

She resisted the urge to cannonball into the still water, opting instead to use the steps in the shallow end and sighing at the surprisingly warm water and wading in up to her hips.

With one deep breath she fell forward with her arms outstretched, slicing her way through the water, her legs propelling her until she felt her fingers touch the tiled edge and then pulled herself up.

"You're kicking too high." A deep voice made her jump as she clung to the side of the pool and wiped the water from her eyes "At the rate you're going I won't have any water left in my pool."

"Sorry!" Claire blushed as she looked up to find the lifeguard crouching down in front of her and he chuckled.

"I was kidding," he shook his head "you're not that bad, although I may have to warn anyone else who get's in and doesn't want their hair wet. I'm Charley."

"Claire." She replied reaching out quickly to shake his offered hand. "You're not from around here."

"Ah you noticed!" He smiled and cocked an eyebrow at her, sitting down slipping his feet into the water. "I'm from England, London to be exact. My girlfriend is from here and at uni so I'm here until she graduates. You?"

"Seattle." Claire moved to rest on her arms. "I'm taking a little break from college. It was a little spur of the moment and it's not exactly gone to plan so far but I'm really enjoying myself."

Charley pursed his lips and pointed at her neck, and Claire blushed again remembering the bruise. "Would that be something that wasn't in your plan? What is it anyway?"

* * *

Quil snorted, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the light streaming into the room. He brought a heavy hand down on his face and rubbed his eyes, frowning as he peeled off a piece of paper that had stuck to his cheek with drool and tossed it to the floor.

He pushed himself up, his back and neck popping as he stretched and yawned before glancing at the bedside clock.

"Claire?" He glanced around the room. "Are you here?"

Quil jumped to his feet and darted to the bathroom, pausing to knock on the door and pushing it open to find it empty.

"Fuck!" He ran back to his side of the bed and grabbed at his shoes, yanking them on his feet, his eyes catching the discarded piece of paper.

'_Quilly! _

_I know I said I'd wait but you're boring when you're asleep! I'll meet you at the pool._

_(heart) Claire-Bear'._

Quil barely stopped to find his key before he sped out of the room and down the hall and began hammering on the elevator call button. He stepped inside and pressed for the basement level, shoving his hands into his pockets and bouncing agitatedly on the balls of his feet.

He swallowed a growl when it stopped on the first floor and two girls walked in, glancing at him in what he assumed was supposed to be an inconspicuous manner but failing badly and giggling behind their hands. When they failed to select a floor he huffed.

"What floor?" The giggling halted abruptly.

"Ground please?" One of the squeaked before turning to the other and they continued their descent.

When he finally made it to the basement floor he was greeted by the officer that had been outside his and Claire's room, sat in sight of the pool room.

As he got closer he could hear voices and walked in just in time to see a dark haired lifeguard sit at the edge of the pool next to where Claire was leaning and drop his feet into the water.

Quil pulled his t-shirt over his head and threw it down on top of Claire's towel. He pulled at the button of his jeans and let them drop to his ankles before perching on the end of the lounger and pulling off his shoes and socks and left them bundled on the floor as he stalked quietly along the pool side.

"Would that be something that wasn't in your plan?" He heard the lifeguard ask "What is it anyway?"

His eyes narrowed as the guard pointed at her neck and reached towards her. His eyes darted to Claire, he saw her cheeks flush and a growl rumbled deep in his chest.

"Oh…I" she stammered, bringing her hand up to shield the blemish.

"I got a bit…carried away." Quil said and they finally noticed him, Claire's eyes widened as he slid into the pool and walked towards her, the water barely skimming the tops of his shoulders and his dark eyes never leaving the lifeguard.

His arm slipped possessively around her waist, her stomach tightening under his touch as he pulled her back against his chest.

"Quil!" Claire exclaimed, releasing her grip on the pool side and twisting in his arms to see his face, her arms hooking over his shoulders to keep her above water. "I wasn't expecting to see you for at least half hour. I thought you wanted to sleep?"

"I said I'd join you remember?" His fingers splayed across the exposed skin of her back, a tight smile forming on his lips. "I woke up and you were gone, I was worried Claire. Why didn't you wait for me?"

"I left you a note." She said squeezing his shoulders and sighing. "I didn't mean to worry you; I just got bored so I came down here. It's not like I'm alone, Charley's here, he's been keeping me company."

"I'll bet he has." He frowned glancing up at the life guard who merely grinned and pursed his lips.

"Well it's been nice meeting you Claire, but my shifts nearly over." Charley got back to his feet. "I hope the rest of your break goes to plan and if you'd like, my _girlfriend _is having a party tonight and you're more than welcome to come…both of you."

"I don't think…" Claire clamped her hand over Quil's mouth.

"That would be great!" She exclaimed. "Are you sure you don't mind?"

"I wouldn't ask if I did." He shrugged. "I'll write the address and leave it at the front desk for you on my way out."

A few minutes later Charley left with a wave and was replaced by a girl, who took her place in his chair with a quick glance at Quil and Claire before pulling out a rolled up magazine and flicking through.

"What are you doing?" Quil asked, dropping Claire on to her feet when they got to slightly shallower water but keeping his hands firmly on her hips. "We can't go to a party!"

"Why not?" She frowned. "It'll be fun Quil; we can go and meet some new people, have a drink and a little music. I need this Quil, we need this."

"Fine." He sighed rolling his eyes and Claire squealed jumping into his arms and locking her legs around his. "But you're not drinking. You're still underage remember?"

"How could I forget when I have you to remind me?" Her smile was saccharine. "You spoil all my fun!"

Quil's face dropped along with his hands and he slipped under the water leaving Claire standing there in silence.

"Quil?" She whispered as if he could hear her through the water. "I didn't mean it like that, I was just…"

Her words were cut off by a loud scream as she felt large hands grip at her waist and thigh and lift her out of the water.

"Don't you dare Quil!" She yelled, clawing at his shoulders. "I mean it, I'll…" And she was engulfed by water, her knees hitting the tiled bottom of the pool.

Claire coughed and spluttered as she broke the surface. "You asshole!" He laughed, backing away into the shallow water as she continually swung her arms out to hit him.

"Hey, now who's the one spoiling all the fun?" He chuckled grabbing her hands and pulling her too him.

Claire poked her tongue out and pushed away from him, her smile faltering and her eyes wide as she looked at him.

"Your um," she let out a shaky breath and Quil watched her tongue flick out to moisten her lips "your underwear's gone see through."

Her eyes darted down to his once white boxer briefs and back up again, her cheeks flushing red as Quil stood there, seemingly without any shame, staring back at her with one eyebrow cocked.

He rolled his eyes and sank to his knees. "Few more laps before we go?" He asked and Claire nodded, disappearing under the water.

Later that evening found them standing on the stoop outside the address that Charley had given them. Quil insisted on taking a cab even though it was less than a ten minute walk away from the hotel and spent the entire journey - door to door- fussing over her outfit.

"I'm just saying I don't see what was wrong with you wearing your jeans." He exclaimed looking down at her bare legs. "You're gonna get…cold."

"It's June." Claire sighed pressing the buzzer. "And we'll be inside all night so it wont matter, will it?"

"Are you sure about this? We don't know these people." Quil whispered as the walked up the stairs that were already lined with people, cups and bottles in hand.

"Well I didn't know you and I flew halfway across the world the day after I met you!" Claire pushed open the door and stepped into the apartment. "Just try to enjoy yourself Quil, please? For me?"

Quil nodded. "Fine, just…stay where I can see you okay?"

Claire beamed and grabbed his hand, pulling him through the throng of people, until she finally found who she was looking for. "Charley!"

"Hey Claire!" He grinned pulling her into a half hug before stepping back and looping his hand around the waist of the girl next to him. "I'm glad you made it. This is my girlfriend Sabine, Sabine this is Claire and her boyfriend…" he pursed his lips "Quil right?"

"Oh," he started as he reached out to shake their hands "we're not…"

"You want a drink?" Claire asked cutting him off.

"Sure, stay away from the hard stuff though." He said letting her lead him away from their host and towards the drinks table.

She grabbed a bottle of beer from a bucket under the table and handed it to him then took a soda for herself. "You wanna dance?"

"I don't think so." Quil scoffed. "I'm gonna need to be a lot more pissed before you can get me out there."

"Oh a challenge!" She grinned and he chuckled and shook his head.

"No it's not a challenge, I don't plan on drinking a lot tonight." He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and tucked her into his side. "I've got you to look after."

"I'll be fine Quil!" Claire rolled her eyes but squeezed him back. "You don't have to worry about me all the time."

His smile tightened. "I'll be the judge of that."

"I'm gonna go see if I can find Charley again, will you be okay on your own?" She asked and chuckled at the look he gave her in return. "Just checking. I'll be back in a minute."

Quil watched as she disappeared through the crowd of people and worked his way over to a small couch, willing himself to give her the space she needed.

He was finding it harder and harder to stay away from her and not just because he knew James was still on the loose. He knew she was beautiful, it had been completely obvious since the first time he'd seen her but when he'd found out how old she was he made a point of locking any thoughts of attraction in the back of his mind and with everything that had happened he'd been doing pretty well.

At least until she came out of the bathroom wearing that damn swimsuit. There was nothing he could ignore while she was dressed like that.

When he found her at the pool with Charley, the need to protect her completely fell away instead replaced with an undeniable jealousy that she would let someone else that close to her, that she would even look at someone else.

It was stupid, he knew that but it didn't change how he felt.

The underwear thing was a total accident. It hadn't even occurred to him that they might go see through in the water, all he cared about was making sure that the life guard knew that Claire was out of bounds. Although admittedly he may not have handled it in the best way.

But it was the look in her eyes that had done him in completely.

When Claire had pulled away from him and noticed what he was wearing, her reaction was comparable to the one he'd had when he'd seen her suit…except his was more obvious.

Now he was struggling to get back to the appropriate way of thinking about her. The fact that she had decided to wear shorts that didn't even deserve to be called shorts for what they covered and a tank top wasn't helping him.

Quil had tried so hard to persuade her to change both for his sanity and the safety of anyone else who dared look at her. He'd tossed her jeans, one of his long sleeved t-shirts and his sweater and she'd looked at him in disgust as she slipped her feet into a pair of sparkly sandals.

As far as she was concerned? He was in a lot of fucking trouble.

He was pulled out of his thoughts as Sabine sat next to him, handing him another bottle of what he was drinking.

"Thanks." He nodded. "Cool party."

"You're welcome and thank you, although I think you may be humoring me!" She smiled her accent thick and slightly wobbly from the drink. "Charley tells me you and Claire are here on a vacation?"

"Uh yeah, she told me she wanted to see the Eiffel tower so I decided to bring her." He shrugged and Sabine 'awed'.

"That's so sweet! I can see it though, you two are smitten with each other." Quil opened his mouth to protest and she cocked her eyebrow. "I just left her with some of my friends, she's not stopped talking about you the entire time and you? You haven't stopped searching for her since she left your side…she's in the kitchen, just so you know." She smirked and Quil blushed a little.

"I best go find Charley before he drinks too much and embarrasses himself. Au revior Quil." She pressed her lips to his cheek and stood from the couch.

Quil sat back into the couch, swigging from the bottle with a slight frown on his face. Every now and then he would catch a glimpse of Claire or hear her laugh but it wasn't until he saw her bolt across the room with her head down that he got up to follow her.

She disappeared down a short hallway and he turned just in time to see a door at the end close.

He leaned his head against the wood and knock softly. "Hey Claire, it's me. Are you okay?"

"Yeah." He heard her sniff "I'll be out in a minute."

"Can I come in?" Another muffled sniff was the only reply so he tried the door handle and found her perched on the edge of the bath tub. "Hey what's going on?"

"It's nothing I'm just being silly." She shook her head and wiped her face. "Just ignore me."

"How am I supposed to do that when you're sitting here in tears huh?" Quil crouched down in front of her, brushing her hair behind her ear so he could see her face, her eyes reddened from crying. "It can't be that silly if it made you feel like this. Please talk to me Claire-bear?"

Claire glanced up at him through her lashes. "I was talking with Sabine and a couple of her friends," she shrugged "Sabine left to see some other people so I stayed with them and after a while they started talking between them selves so I turned to talk to Charley. I think they thought I couldn't hear what they we're saying and it really is stupid!"

"What did they say?" Quil leaned forward and frowned. "Have you been drinking?"

Claire nodded. "Sabine gave me a glass of wine. Just the one I promise!" She exclaimed as he opened his mouth.

"Fine," He pursed his lips. "Carry on."

"Please Quil? It really is silly, I don't even know why I got so upset, and they didn't say anything that wasn't true." She pleaded.

"I thought I was your best friend?" Quil smiled and thumbed her cheek. "Don't best friends tell each other everything?"

Claire managed a half smile and breathed out a whoosh of air. "When Charley introduced you as my boyfriend I didn't let you correct him because I liked the idea…I like the idea of me and you." She paused to gauge his reaction. "After Sabine left and I started talking to Charley, I could hear the other girls wondering why you were with me. They saw us come in together and apparently we're more like siblings than couple…you didn't even stay with me. Like I said. Silly."

Quil sighed and pushed himself to his feet. "It's not silly. Come on." He held out his hand for her to take and led her back to the party, stopping in the middle of the floor and pulling her against him.

"What are you doing?" She frowned as he pulled her arms up around his neck before gripping her waist and moving with her to the music. His eyes bore into hers and she could see the warring emotions speed across his face.

"If you were my sister I could be locked up for some of the things that I've been thinking about you." He whispered and he felt her tense. "You're beautiful, smart, funny and you call me on my shit. I didn't stay with you because I've been going insane trying to keep my hands off you since you came out the bathroom this morning. I think we both needed that bit of space.

It took all my will power to not hunt you down as soon as you left my sight. Like I said, I struggle to keep my hands to myself and in all honesty I'm looking forward to going home and going to bed just so I get to hold you again!"

Quil groaned and stepped away from her, rubbing his hands through his hair and a pained look on his face.

"Those girls have no idea what they're talking about." He shook his head and reached out to touch her face. "You're fucking perfect for me Claire!"

"I am?" Claire squeaked as her eyebrows slid up her forehead and Quil nodded, his face breaking into a wide smile.

"I think you pretty much owned me the moment your knee hit me!" He chuckled and she blushed. "You're the only girl I've traveled half way around the world for. That should tell you something?"

"You're a masochist?" She scoffed.

"Possibly." He agreed.

"Quil? Would it be….Is it completely inappropriate to kiss you right now?" Claire stammered and blushed.

Quil stood there, his hand frozen against her cheek.

"Or not." Claire moved from his touch, mumbling an apology as she span on her heel and fled from the apartment.

Charley tried to catch her attention as she passed him on the way down the stairs, but she didn't stop instead pulling at the door and almost falling out of the building.

"Claire wait!" Quil yelled running after her.

"Just forget it Quil." She replied without looking back. "I thought you said you liked me, obviously I heard wrong."

As she stepped of the bottom of the stoop Quil's hand encircled her wrist, snapping her back and against him with a force that sent them both stumbling backwards.

Any words she had were lost when his mouth pressed against hers with a gentle force, the sweet scent of the beer and Quil wafting around her, clouding her already hazy head.

His knees were bent awkwardly to meet her height and his hand cupping the back of her head, holding her to him and his lips were dry and a little rough as they worked against hers.

She felt his tongue sweep along the crease of her lips and hesitated to let him in, her grip on his shoulders tightening when she finally opened her mouth to meet him and she struggled to remember anything that tasted this good.

Quil grunted and straightened, his hands trailing to her hips, lifting her from the ground and helping her bring her legs to his waist before lowering himself to sit on to the top step of the stoop with her firmly planted in his lap.

A soft nip on her bottom lip made her yelp and she felt Quil's lips curve into a smile against hers.

"You heard me right." He said pulling back slightly. "I'm sorry I reacted like that, I didn't mean to make you feel…"

"It's okay." Claire blushed, her eyes trained on his shoulder as she picked at the material of his shirt.

"No it's not!" Quil exclaimed urging her to look at him, dipping his head down quickly to kiss her again. "You should never feel like that, especially because of me. I meant everything I said back in there, Claire. You're perfect for me. I'd like to try and be that for you."

Claire smirked and pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. "You won't have to try very hard at all!"

* * *

Possibly too soon?

Vous allez quelque part ?- Going somewhere?

Oui, la piscine . - Yes, the pool.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Sorry, I hoped to get this up quicker but my lap top basically fell apart. Word of advice, never buy a Dell, they're crap! (In my opinion anyway). Anyway, here's more Quil and Claire for you- tiniest hint of lemon, I'm not gonna move them on _that_ fast! It's a little shorter than the last one, it seemed like a good place to end it and i've already started the next chapter. **

**I apologize, I posted this chapter a couple of hours ago and realized I'd managed to delete half of one of the paragraphs at some point, so I took it back down to rectify it- sorry!  
**

**Hope you enjoy, reviews are always appreciated.**

* * *

Claire chewed her lip nervously as she checked her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Her cheeks were still lightly flushed and her lips plump from Quil's kisses. They hadn't returned to the party, but had instead walked hand in hand back to the hotel, stealing shy glances at each other and Claire had- more than once, found her self back in Quil's arms with her mouth against his.

She looked at the pajamas that sat on top of the toilet seat, waiting for her to put them on and she scolded herself for not bringing anything more provocative. She picked up the bottoms and tugged them on as something stuffed in the corner caught her eye.

Claire picked up the bundle of material and shook it out, finding it was Quil's shirt from earlier that day, the same one he hadn't bothered to put back on after they left the pool and her stomach fluttered at the memory.

He had got out of the water and grabbed her towel, leaving her staring open mouthed as he'd wrapped around him self and dropped his underwear to the floor before quickly rubbing himself dry and pulling his jeans on.

Quil helped her from the water, enveloping her in the towel and after grabbing the rest of their clothes and shoes, lead her back towards the elevator and up to the room.

It wasn't as if she'd never seen him half naked before, but this time it was different- she was sure she'd seen something in his eyes when he'd slipped his arms around her in the water. His touch ignited a brand new feeling deep within her and she couldn't honestly say she didn't like that feeling.

The trip back to the room however, had brought about a whole new set of feelings- mainly jealousy. Every woman they had passed and even some men had stared openly at him as he strolled confidently through the corridors with her tucked under his arm.

She had momentarily wondered what all the attention was for before they had stepped into the mirrored elevator and then she knew exactly why. The subtle lighting being used in the hotel bounced off Quil's still slightly damp skin causing it to almost glow, he looked ethereal, god-like.

He looked absolutely amazing.

Of course, now she knew that she'd had no reason to worry about Quil's reaction to the attention, he had made it quite clear that he wanted her, but at the time it had pissed her off that these people thought they could just look at him like that- as if she wasn't even there.

That had only been magnified by the girls she had met at Charley's party. Claire was angry that no one could see her that way with someone like Quil, like she couldn't measure up to him and would never be good enough. And then she had been angry with herself for even feeling that way, he had become her best friend but that was as far as it went no matter how much she wanted more.

Or so she had thought.

She fingered the material in her hands and shifted her eyes back to her reflection before nodding to her self and tossing it on to the side next to the sink.

Claire dropped her sleep pants back to the floor and kicked them aside, reaching up behind her back to unlatch her bra and toss it down with her PJ's before reclaiming Quil's shirt and tugging it over her head.

She fluffed her hair and pulled it over her shoulder to hide the bruise on her neck, her fists clenched and released by her side as she bounced anxiously on the balls of her feet before blowing out a deep breath and opening the bathroom door.

Quil didn't even look up when she stepped through the doorway, his gaze firmly fixed on some cop show on the T.V. He sat with his back against the headboard of the bed, his button down shirt was long gone as were his shoes and socks and his legs were crossed at the ankles.

"Do you need the bathroom?" Claire asked in an attempt to get his attention as she leaned against the doorframe only to receive a non committal grunt in reply and she sighed. "It's warm in here huh?"

Quil finally tilted his head towards her slightly as she flapped the hem of the shirt and his eyes widened. "Uh, is that…is that my shirt?" He asked, swallowing hard and she had to fight the urge to cheer at his reaction.

"Yeah," she chirped and hopped up onto the bed on her knees, the movement causing the shirt to ride up higher on her thighs "is it okay?"

"Its fine," he nodded vehemently "it's completely fine. You want some shorts? I think I've got some in my…"

"I don't want shorts Quil." Claire frowned as he fidgeted. "You okay?"

"I think you're right," he jumped from the bed and went to the window, wrestling with the child proof lock "it's definitely warmer in here tonight!"

"You ready to go to bed?" She watched as Quil shifted on his feet, "or are you watching this?"

Quil's eyes flicked back to the T.V and he nodded. "Uh, yeah I think I'm gonna finish watching this first. I'll keep the volume down so you can sleep."

Claire smiled at him and pulled back the covers, slipping underneath and patting the mattress for him to join her. She lay on her side, clutching her pillow as he slipped in beside her, his body stiff and his eyes firmly fixed on the screen.

"Could you get the light?" She asked and he wordlessly obeyed, leaning over to reach the switch and flicking it off, leaving the room basked in the soft glow of the T.V.

Claire let her eyes fall shut, listening to the muted sounds of sirens from the show and Quil's slightly heavier breathing. Her stomach flipped excitedly as she thought about what that could mean his usually cool exterior was gone. The confident man was nowhere to be seen replaced instead with a flustered boy- she'd done that to him and it felt good.

After a few minutes she heard music and opened her eyes to see the credits rolling up the screen, Quil picked up the remote control and the room went dark. She felt him shifting around as he removed his jeans and waited for him to pull her into his arms like he'd said he wanted to, instead she heard him punch his pillow a few times and huff quietly as he settled on his side of the bed.

"Quil?" Claire asked as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, now able to make out the silhouette of his body in the small amount of light that managed to get around the curtains. She was beginning to wonder if wearing his t-shirt had been a little out of line. "Did I do something wrong? If it's the t-shirt, I can go take it off; I really didn't think it would be that much of a problem?"

When she was met by silence she sighed and threw the covers off her, sitting up and dropping her feet to the floor. She was about to stand when Quil grabbed her hand and yanked her back down, his body half covering hers."I don't mind that you're wearing my shirt Claire, in fact it's the complete opposite and that's my problem," he said softly, reaching up and pushing her hair from her eyes "remember earlier when I said I was having a hard time keeping my hands to myself while you were wearing those shorts?"Claire nodded and hummed in acknowledgment, waiting for him to continue."Well this is just like that only about a hundred times worse! I don't know, maybe it's a territorial thing, but seeing you in _my_ clothes is fucking sexy! It's right up there with seeing you in that wet bathing suit this afternoon- better, actually!" He exclaimed.

"I…is that a bad thing?" She could feel her cheeks warming under his gaze, the scant light reflecting of his eyes.

"No it's not a bad thing, far from it." Quil shook his head and chuckled. "I'm seriously considering hiding all your clothes and leaving you no choice _but_ to wear mine, although I'm pretty sure I'd never let you leave the room again."

Claire reached up to cup his face, her fingers tracing the shell of his ear as she pulled him down towards her, claiming his mouth softly with a small groan. His tongue played against hers as the kiss became deeper, desire licking at Claire's core as she attempted to pull him completely over her.

"Claire-bear," He whispered, pecking sweetly at her lips, lifting his weight off of her "what are you doing?"

"I thought that…" She mumbled "Sorry."

She tried to crawl out from underneath him, keeping her burning face turned into the shadows, but Quil bent his legs and clamped her between his knees.

"Will you stop running away from me?" He exclaimed. "What did you think? That I wanted to have sex with you?"

"Well that was kinda the idea." Claire murmured.

"You wanted to? Is that why you came out wearing my shirt?" Quil blanched and she nodded. He dropped his head onto her shoulder with a deep sigh, straightening his body out over hers, but keeping his weight off. "You're killing me here, you know that right?"

"I'm sorry Quil, I just though that after tonight that we should…that you might want too…" She trailed off and he pressed his lips to her neck.

"Believe me I want to," his voice was muffled against her skin as he finally let her feel his weight, and she let out a small, surprised gasp at his erection pressing insistently against her hip "but I want you to be ready Claire. I don't want you thinking you have to, or that you should. We've known each other just over a week, our first kiss was an hour and a half ago- there's no rush."

"But I am, I'm…I'm ready." She insisted as she moved a trembling hand down his arm and guided his hand under the hem of the shirt.

A deep growl rumbled in Quil's chest as his hand squeezed her hip, his thumb toying with the waistband of her panties.

"Say it," he demanded softly lifting his head to look into her wide eyes "tell me what you want, tell me what you want me to do."

"I want…" her tongue flicked out to moisten her suddenly dry lips, "I want you too…"

Quil pulled his hand out from under her clothes and pulled it back down to her thighs. He cupped her face and pressed his lips to hers before pulling back with a small smile. "There's no rush, Claire-bear."

"Is it my age?" She asked quietly. "Because if that's the problem, then you should know that the age of consent over here is lower…"

"No, Claire- that's not it." Quil pushed himself away from her and sat up, watching as she followed and pulled her knees to her chest. "You can't even say the word, how could you be ready if you can't even bring yourself to tell me what you want in the simplest way? Baby, I'm not saying any of this shit to be mean or embarrass you; I'm saying it because I don't want you to regret any of it."

He flopped against the headboard with a sigh, reaching over and dragging her onto his lap. "I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this, but you are a virgin, right?"

Claire stiffened in his arms and nodded. "Yeah, you're my first- well apart from when Bobby Tracey held my hand in first grade, you're my first everything."

"Who the hell is Bobby Tracey? Wait never mind, it's not important." He nuzzled her hair. "It's just that…your first time should be special, it should be with someone you love.

I'm not saying that it can't be me, I'm totally loveable and so are you, I mean look me! Who wouldn't, right?" She pinched playfully at his stomach and he chuckled, squeezing her harder. "Wait until you know, Claire- or at least wait until you can say the word 'sex' without blushing!"

Claire chuckled softly, turning her face into his chest and pressing her lips to his skin, trailing them up his neck and over his jaw.

"That's not helping!" Quil grumbled as his hips twitched.

"Sorry!" She smiled and pushed herself from his lap, climbing off the bed and heading to the bathroom. "I'll go get changed."

"Oh no!" He leapt from the bed and grabbed her to him, "no PJ's for you. You can keep this shirt."

Quil laid them both back on the bed, tugging the covers up over their legs. "When you're ready, I'll be ready, but until then take your time, I meant everything I told you tonight and I'm not going anywhere."

Claire grabbed his hand and pulled it around her, clasping it in hers, his long, thick fingers making hers look tiny.

"Hey Quil, you're not a virgin are you?" She asked and he scoffed loudly behind her, quickly trying to hide it with a cough.

"Uh, no. I'm not." He said quietly.

"How many?" She felt him sit up behind her and twisted her head to find him looking down at her. "What?"

"Are you seriously asking me that?" He cocked an eyebrow and she nodded.

"I wanna know what I'm contending with." She elaborated, thumbing his knuckles.

"Claire-bear, you're not contending with anything or anyone. If you want the truth then it's five- six at most, and I say this in the nicest way possible, none of them compare to you okay? So let's just leave it at that." He sighed, sliding back down behind her again only for her to turn in his arms.

"Did you love any of them?" Claire bit her lip in anticipation of his answer and he shrugged.

"I thought I did,' he nodded "but I was fifteen I didn't know any better, I got love and lust confused."

"Fifteen? Wow, so you were a bit of a tart when you were younger!" She grinned playfully, screeching when he tickled at her sides in retaliation.

He caught her mouth with his, cutting off her laughter and swallowing a contented sigh.

Claire pulled back and turned herself back into his arms, settling back onto her pillow. "Can we go to the tower tomorrow?"

"Sure." He kissed the back of her head and buried his face in her hair. "Whatever you want, babe."

* * *

Quil grabbed the room key and stuffed into his pocket, mentally kicking himself when Claire emerged in the same shorts she's worn to the party the night before with a knowing grin on her face.

"Evil!" He scowled, swatting at her butt as she walked passed him out of the room. "Evil woman."

She grabbed his hand and led him towards the elevator and they rode down to the lobby in quiet company.

Quil guided her through the reception area and outside, holding the door open for a courier as he entered the building while Claire went to hail a cab.

"Oh, wait!" he patted his pockets. "I forgot my wallet, come wait inside for a second while I'll go get it."

"I'll be fine here." Claire smiled, turning her attention back to the road to look for a cab before shooting him another glance. "The quicker you go get it the quicker we can leave!" She said shooing him away and he sighed, running back inside.

As he passed the reception desk he heard the courier talking to the man who had booked his and Claire's room.

"Aucun nom, numéro de pièce à deux oh sept ans." He said and the receptionist looked over at Quil, waving him over.

"I remember you from the other night, room two hundred and seven, yes?" He asked and Quil nodded, accepting the package he handed him with a frown.

He tore the box open and looked inside, his stomach dropping at the sight of its contents.

"Who sent this?" He demanded, waving it in front of the courier.

"Non, aucune adresse de retour." He replied, holding his hands up in defense.

"He says no return address." The receptionist explained quickly and Quil blew out a huge breath, his eyes flicking to the doors as he remembered Claire. He dropped the box on to the counter; the plastic mouse ears fell out and went clattering on to the hardwood floor as he ran to the front of the hotel.

"Claire?" He shouted, pushing his way out onto the street, his eyes frantically searching the side walk for any sign of her. "Claire!"

Quil pulled his phone from his pocket, desperately dialing her number; his fingers tugging at his hair as he his eyes continuously roamed the street.

Soft music erupted somewhere near to him, a song that he recognized- Claire's ring tone. He followed the sound to the edge of the pavement, finding her bag tossed in the curb.

"Shit!" He pulled up the Inspector Grenier's number as he ran back into the hotel.

"She's gone!" He shouted as soon as the call connected. "That motherfucker knew where we were staying. He sent her the mouse ears she lost when he came after two days ago and now she's gone!"

"Who is this?" The voice at the other end asked and Quil growled in frustration.

"It's Quil Ateara." He stated. "Claire's gone. I left her outside for a minute and now she's…he's fucking got her!"

* * *

Translations courtesy of Google Translate.

_"Aucun nom, numéro de pièce à deux oh sept ans_" "No name, just room number two oh seven"

_"Non, aucune adresse de retour."_ "No, no return address."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Anyone else think that Bronson Pelletier looked particularly spiffy at the MMA's? Apparently I have a thing for a man in a dickie bow- who knew! I'm not 100% happy with this chapter, it feels a little repetitive, but I feel like i've been staring at for hours so I'm just going to post it with a preemptive apology. Enjoy!**

* * *

"How many more times do I have to go over this?" Quil exclaimed, his chair scraping back as he stood forcefully and began pacing the width if the room.

"Mister Ateara?" Inspector Grenier twisted his pen in his hand and sighed as he watched the younger man tug uncontrollably on his already ravaged hair.

"If I knew how to speak French, then I would fucking tell you in French if I thought it would make it any clearer!" He rested his forehead against the door, "the longer you keep me here, the further away he's getting with her..."

"Mister Ateara?" The inspector repeated trying to get attention again.

"Who the fuck knows where he's taken her? He could be out of the city by now! Jesus fucking Christ! This is all my fault, I should never have fucking left her out there, I should have made her come back inside- I should have told her the fucking truth..."

"Quil!" Grenier shouted.

"What?" He roared kicking the door so hard the surrounding wall shook.

"I understand your frustration, believe me..." He started only for Quil to scoff and drop unceremoniously back in his seat.

"You understand my frustration?" He cocked an eyebrow, his fist balled on the table top, "I told her he would never get near her again! I promised to keep her safe- you don't have the slightest fucking idea how I feel right now!"

Inspector Grenier cleared his throat and opened a file that sat in front if him. He flicked through and pulled out a picture, pushing across the table to Quil.

"Her name was Victoria," he gestured to the smiling red head "she was just eighteen when she decided to go traveling around the country. She was with a friend who left her after a couple of weeks but she decided to carry on alone. The next week she disappeared."

He swallowed and pulled out another picture, placing it on top if the first and Quil felt physically sick at the image.

"He cut off her hair so close to her head at first we assumed he'd tried to scalp her, he beat her within an inch if her life and left her." Grenier explained through clenched teeth. "He went back and raped her before he finally killed her and dumped her body in a ditch like she was nothing but rubbish.

She was his first victim, Victoria Grenier- my daughter."

Inspector Grenier picked up the pictures, and stuffed them back inside the folder.

"Every night I close my eyes and I see her lying in that ditch," his voice was low and forcefully steady. "I can't remember her laugh or her smile, because all I can see is her battered face. So yes Quil- I understand better than anyone what you're feeling and right now you are the only link I have to the son of a bitch who murdered my child!"

"What do you need me to go over?" Quil sat back stiffly in his chair and Grenier nodded, pulling his written statement back in front of him.

"You went to a party yesterday evening, Is that the first time you left the hotel?" He asked.

"Yeah, Claire went to the pool around lunch time, I went down about half an hour later and the lifeguard that was on duty invited us to his apartment," he explained "we stayed here until about eight thirty and we got a cab."

"Did you notice any body hanging around? Anybody at the party who seemed out of place?" Grenier scribbled as he spoke.

"Honestly sir? I haven't got the slightest fucking idea about the people at that party, I spoke to two- maybe three people apart from Claire the whole time we were there," he shrugged and rubbed hand over his face. "There was maybe an hour when I wasn't with her, but from what she told me she spent that time with that lifeguard, Charley and his girlfriend."

"What about when you left? Anything suspicious?" Grenier glanced up at Quil who grimaced slightly at the question.

"We may have been a little...distracted?" His cheeks tinged pink.

"No longer 'just friends' I take it?" He managed to suppress a knowing smirk.

"No," he shook his head. "Is there anything else? I just want to get out there and look for her."

"I need you to stay here and…" The inspector started.

"No, sorry I can't do that." Quil stood from his seat. "I can't just sit and wait while she's out there with that monster."

"I can't let you go out there and interfere with the investigation, Mister Ateara." Grenier shook his head. "If you insist I'll have to arrest you, and I'd rather not."

"Then arrest me," He leaned across the table, his voice lowering to barely a whisper "what would you do? If it was Victoria, would you just sit here and wait until someone had something to tell you, or would you go out there and find the asshole yourself?"

"You're no good to her behind bars, Quil." Grenier gathered his files and stood. "I promise you we'll find her and when we do, you'll need to be there for her. Go back to your room and wait; I'll call you as soon as I know anything."

Quil followed him silently from the room, nodding solemnly before turning back towards the elevators and going up to the room.

The door clicked shut behind him, the sound reverberating around the otherwise silent space. He dropped onto the bed with a sigh; grabbing the shirt that Claire had worn the night before from her pillow and squeezing it in his hands, their breakfast bowls still sat on the floor next to his feet.

He stood, reaching into his pocket for Claire's phone, scrolling through the contacts as he walked aimlessly toward the window and pulled back the curtain. His stomach churned painfully as the phone rang, his heart thumped in his chest.

"Mister Young? It's Quil Ateara," Quil shifted nervously, his nose stung with the threat of tears "yeah I know it's late to call, but uh, it's Claire- I know I promised, but I couldn't…I didn't…someone's taken her."

* * *

Claire breathed frantically as her eyes tried to adjust to the pitch black surrounding her. Her head throbbed, the right side of her face felt tight and a metallic scent filled her nostrils.

She tried to push herself up, finding her arms bound behind her back, the ligature cutting into the flesh of her wrists as she resisted their hold and with one final push and a strained grunt she managed to right herself.

Claire shook her head in an attempt to clear the haze as she tried to remember what had happened.

"_Oh wait!" Quil had called and she'd turned back to him to find him rooting around in his pockets with a frown "I forgot my wallet, come wait inside for a second while I go get it."_

"_I'll be fine here," she had told him "the quicker you go get it the quicker we can leave!" And with one final glance he'd turned and gone back into the hotel, leaving her on the sidewalk._

_She hadn't heard anyone come up behind her, but the cold length of steel pressed into the skin of her back had her stiffening in terror and she'd opened her mouth, ready to scream._

"_Don't!" a voice had demanded as the blade bit into her flesh in warning and she'd immediately snapped her mouth shut. "Behave or I'll kill you right here, right now and then I'll go for your boyfriend."_

_Claire nodded, her body shook violently and her bag went tumbling to the floor, rolling out on to the curb as she silently willed someone to take notice of her._

"_Now, put your arm around me and walk." His rank breath ghosted over her face and she screwed up her nose in an attempt to block it out. She hesitated before sliding her arm around his waist, her eyes finally rising to meet his and her blood ran cold._

_He kept his hand at her back, his knife piercing the skin as he quickly walked her away and around a corner. When she saw the small van she panicked, but his grip tightened and the blade pressed a little deeper._

_James opened the door at the back of the vehicle with one final glance around before tossing her into the back and then everything had gone black._

A door opened with a loud creak, shedding light over the room, temporarily blinding her. She could make out the silhouette of someone in the doorway, someone slightly shorter and wider than James and they stepped silently closer.

"Are you awake?" The sudden voice made her jump and gasp. "Good."

Her eyes locked on Laurent's as he bent down in front of her, holding a cup in front of her face.

"Please?" she pleaded, her unshed tears finally escaping and rolling down her face. "Let me go, please?"

"Drink," he demanded, pressing the edge of the cup to her lips and she backed away, her eyes wide with fear. "It is water, you need to drink something."

Laurent tilted the cup and Claire sipped noisily at the liquid until he'd decided she'd had enough and pulled away.

"Don't fight him," he said quietly, moving to stand. "It's what he want's. If you don't fight he'll get bored- it'll be quicker."

A loud sob shook her body as he stood and left, closing the door behind him and plunging the room back into darkness.

"No!" she scrambled to her knees, the rough surface of the floor cutting her knees as she tried to crawl towards the door. "Let me out!"

Claire reached the door, pushing her shoulder against it with all the strength she could manage, but it refused to move.

She slumped back and rested her forehead against it, her chest vibrating with silent tears.

"J'ai fait comme vous l'avez demandé," a muffled voice caught her attention. "Laissez-la partir. S'il vous plaît?"

"Je crois que je vais garder son un peu plus longtemps?" Someone replied. "Maintenant congé. J'ai quelque chose que j'ai besoin de prendre soin de …"

One set of footsteps traveled away from the door and disappeared into the distance and another came closer. Claire rolled back onto her knees and crawled back to where she had been sat, her heart beating frantically in her chest as she heard the lock click.

"Jolie fille, come with me," James grinned as he moved towards her, bending down to roughly grip her arm and yanking her onto her feet, placing her in front of his body and guiding her through the door.

Claire's eyes darted quickly around the space, landing on another door with a small boarded window that let in the tiniest ray of daylight and her heart leapt at the thought of escape.

"Don't even think about it," James spat, squeezing her bicep and releasing one of her wrists from it's restraint. "I've got Laurent watching your boyfriend, one wrong move from you and I'll take it out on him, understand?"

"He's not my boyfriend," she said quickly "I barely know him, he's nothing…he's nothing to me!"

James face split with a maniacal sneer as he thumbed away the tear that fell onto the apple of her cheek. "They way you were kissing him last night? It didn't look like he was nothing to you," Claire's eyes snapped to his "you don't protect people you don't care about like he was protecting you. A valiant effort though- you're still attempting to shield the man who couldn't defend you."

Claire reared back and spat in his face, his smile faltered for all of a second before it returned with even more malice as he wiped away her saliva on the cuff of his shirt.

"I must admit I'm a little disappointed with you," James' hand left her arm and he gripped her jaw, holding her face in front of his with painful force. She tensed as she felt his other hand come to rest on her waist and travel across her stomach, hitching up the hem of her top until her navel was revealed. "I think maybe you are not as innocent as I hoped you were."

He pushed her shirt higher and Claire shook, resisting his grip and batting his hands from her body. "Get your hands off me!" she screamed, backing up until her back hit a wall as he descended upon her.

His hand came down hard across her cheek, she felt the skin tear and burn as she staggered and fell to the floor.

"J'adore quand ils se battent de retour!"

* * *

The door of the main entrance to the hotel shut quietly behind Quil as he stepped out on to the street. His eyes immediately fell on the place he'd left Claire and his brow furrowed as he sighed and forced himself to walk away.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked it for what seemed like the millionth time that day, even though it was on the loudest volume it could go, just in case he'd missed a call.

Evening was closing in, the sun had begun to go down and Quil suddenly felt cold. He pulled his jacket tighter around his body, hunching into himself as he darted effortlessly between the other people on the sidewalk and rounded the corner.

He walked aimlessly, following crowd less backstreets and passing lots of tiny restaurants with names that he had no hope in hell of ever pronouncing until he found himself dwarfed by the shadow of the tower.

"Stupid son of a…" His hands flew to his hair as he screamed, earning him a number of wary glances from passers by.

"Monseiur?" a police officer approached him, his hand hovering over his firearm "y at-il un problème?"

"I don't understand," Quil shook his head "no French, just English.

"Monsieur, je vais devoir vous demander de quitter la zone." The officer continued and Quil grunted in frustration, his eyes sweeping the surrounding area.

His breath caught as he saw a familiar head of short dreadlocks, "Grenier!" he turned to the officer and brought his hand to his head to simulate a phone. "Get Grenier here now!"

He didn't bother to wait for a reply as he darted across the street and after Laurent, who barely had a chance to look around before Quil landed on his back and took them both to the ground.

"Where is he?" He demanded, pulling his fist back and hurling it at Laurent's chest "I know you know now tell me where he took her?"

"I can't!" Laurent brought his arms up in an attempt to shield the next punch, "I can't tell you- please!"

"I don't believe you." Quil lashed out again as the sound of sirens neared.

"Quil, stop!" Grenier appeared at the edge of the street. "I don't want to have to take you in."

"You think I give a shit?" He pressed his knees into Laurent's stomach and pinned his arms by his side. "He knows where that fucker is, I know it and right now all I care about is finding Claire!"

"Let him up," the inspector ordered and Quil grunted, purposefully putting all of his weight onto his knees as he stood and Laurent rolled onto his side, clutching at his stomach as Grenier approached.

"If you know anything, now would be the time to tell me," He bent down until his mouth was level with his ear "et si vous me donnez des raisons de penser que vous mentez? Je vais à pied et le laisser faire ce qu'il veut."

"I can't tell you where he is!" he exclaimed gritting his teeth. "He has my sister; if he finds out I told you anything he'll kill her."

"If you don't tell me where he is I'll fucking kill _you_!" Quil snarled rushing towards him again only for the inspector to hold out his arm and stop him.

"We can help you- help your sister, but you have to help us," Grenier said. "Tell me where he's got her."

* * *

Her entire body ached, her knees burned and her arms felt heavy. She turned her face against the cool wall in an attempt to ease the hammering behind her eyes, trying to stay awake and focused enough to listen for the door.

Claire's stomach turned and the sudden urge to vomit was overwhelming as she leaned forward and spilled what was left of her breakfast, before bringing her arm up to wipe her mouth.

The door swung open and she tried to mold into the wall, her heart thumped as the heavy footsteps grew closer, tears that should have dried up hours ago began streaming down her face as a large hand brushed over her bruised body.

"Please don't?" she pleaded quietly "I'll do anything you want just please don't-"

"Claire-bear?" Her eyes shot open, ignoring her pain as she twisted round, desperate to prove that the voice wasn't an hallucination.

"Quil!" Claire choked, clawing at his arms and dragging herself towards his body. "You've got to get out of here, he said he was gonna come after you- it's not safe you need to leave!"

"He's gone baby," Quil shushed her and pulled her into his lap. "I should never have lied to you, but he's gone now, I promise- I promise!"

* * *

Approximate translations:

"**J'ai fait comme vous l'avez demandé…****Laissez-la partir. S'il vous plaît?"**

"I did as you asked…Let her go, please?"

"**Je crois que je vais garder son un peu plus longtemps?…Maintenant congé. J'ai quelque chose que j'ai besoin de prendre soin de …"**

"I think I'll keep her a little longer?…Now leave. I have something I need to take care of…"

"**J'adore quand ils se battent de retour!"**

"I love when they fight back!"

"**Monsieur, je vais devoir vous demander de quitter la zone." **

"Sir, I must ask you to leave the area."

"**et si vous me donnez des raisons de penser que vous mentez? Je vais à pied et le laisser faire ce qu'il veut."**

"…and if you give me reason to believe that you are lying? I'll walk away and let him do what he wants."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Updates for this story are probably going to slow down a little bit now- good news is I have an epilogue, I just have to get there ( I know I'm backwards). Translations are at the bottom as usual and they aren't perfect, so I apologize.**

**Uh...Enjoy!**

* * *

Quil sat silently by Claire's hospital bed, the intrusive beep of the heart monitor and the soft whisper of her breathing, the only sounds in the room.

He glanced down at his hand, her fingers intertwined with his as he carefully avoided the pulse monitor clipped onto her index finger. His gaze traveled up her arm, over the angry red sores left by this plastic zip ties that had been used to bind her, the purple bruises that bore a similar shape to that of a large hand and the cuts and scratches of varying lengths and depth that littered her once flawless skin.

Quil's stomach churned as he forced himself to look upon her face.

She was barely recognizable under all the bruises, her top lip was split and swollen and the skin on her right cheek had been pulled back together by butterfly stitches.

He flinched at the sound of heels, clicking furiously along the linoleum corridor outside the room and he sighed in relief when a white coated doctor ran straight past without so much as a glance in their direction. It had been almost twelve hours since he'd called Claire's parents, they were worried, upset and to say they were angry with him would've been a huge understatement- Quil was not looking forward to his first meeting with mommy and daddy Young.

A large yawn shook his body and he dropped his head forward onto the bed, next to their clasped hands. He breathed deeply, trying to find Claire's scent under the overwhelming smell of hospital detergent and sickness. The rhythmic beep of the heart monitor lulled him, and he could feel himself drifting off to sleep, his eyelids becoming unbelievably heavy.

He jolted himself up and sat back in the hard plastic chair, dragging his hand over his face in an attempt to wipe away his lethargy.

"I know I've said it before and you're probably sick of hearing it by now, but I'm so fucking sorry baby' Quil said quietly. "If I could take it all back I would."

He frowned as he watched her sleep, a concoction of drugs keeping her heavily sedated in order to give her time for her body and mind to begin to heal.

"Okay, that's a lie," he scoffed and shook his head. "I wouldn't take it all back- not finding your purse and chasing after you or having you be my study buddy. I don't even care about you kicking me in the balls! In fact I think that was quite possibly the greatest moment of my life so far!"

Quil pulled his hand from hers and opened her palm, tracing the crescent shaped gouges left by her own fingernails.

"I'm being selfish, huh? I feel like I should wish that everything could go back to the way it was, that I was back in my tiny apartment with Jake handing me my ass at C.O.D and Nessie at the kitchen table, surrounded by her medical books" he sighed. "You would be back in your dorm room doing whatever extra credit you asked for while your roommate completely ignored you- it would be boring, but at least you would be safe.

It's just that there's this tiny piece of me right here," he tapped his chest "that won't let me do it because if I do, and by some unlikely miracle it actually worked? I'd never have been here with you and last night wouldn't have happened." He brought her palm to his mouth and pressed his lips gently against the wounds.

The door swung open and Claire's doctor walked in, offering a small smile to Quil who blushed at being caught.

"I just want to check her over, make sure nothing has changed-" she explained and he nodded, standing from his chair and moving with it to the edge of the room while the doctor went about her work. He averted his eyes when she pulled back the covers and opened Claire's gown to check the marks on her body, listening for the crinkling of the heavily starched sheets before he opened them again.

"We're going to take her off the drip in the morning" the doctor said, pulling his attention back to her as he resituated himself beside Claire's bed again. " She seems to be healing fine- her ribs will most likely be the most painful physically and she has a mild infection in the wound on her left knee, but it's nothing that can't be cleared up with some antibiotics."

"Thank you," Quil nodded, reaching for Claire's hand as the doctor headed for the door. "I hate to say this Claire-bear, but I really think it's time we went home now?"

"I couldn't agree more!" A voice boomed making him jump in his seat and he turned to find a man, dressed a dark grey suit and tie standing in the doorway. "You're Quil I take it?"

Quil stood nervously, wiping his hands on the thighs of his jeans before holding one out in greeting "Mister Young."

A woman pushed passed Claire's father, running straight to her bedside, clutching her face. Mister Young eyed Quil's outstretched hand before walking past him and joining his wife.

"You can leave now." He said, his eyes never leaving his daughter and Quil blanched at his words.

"Mister Young, please I…" He started as her mother rounded on him, her eyes wide and dark.

"I don't want you anywhere near my daughter again, do I make myself clear?" she hissed. "If it wasn't for you she wouldn't even be here, she'd be safe at home- at school, not lying in some hospital. You played just as big a part in putting her here as that animal who took her and I don't want her to have anything to do with you ever again!"

Quil stared open mouthed and dumbfounded at the woman in front of him, his feet firmly rooted to the floor in shock as she seethed at him.

"Leave!" She screamed, jolting him from his stupor and he wordlessly span on his heel and left the room, barging through the maze of corridors until he located the exit.

The cold night air engulfed him, light rain spattered his face and he remembered his sweater on the back of the chair next to Claire's bed- he didn't need it that bad.

He flagged down a taxi and directed it back to the hotel, his movements almost robotic as he handed over the cash and made his way back up to their room.

The room was clean.

The curtains had been tied back, and the bed had been made and turned down. Clothes he'd left piled in the bathroom early that morning were now folded neatly on the chair under the window and both of their bags were now sitting in the closet just inside the door.

Quil left the room bathed in darkness, tossing his key onto the bed and walking towards the bathroom. He toed of his shoes and kicked them violently towards the windows, pulled at the buckle of his belt and let his jeans drop to the floor, his shirt and underwear joining them moments later.

He stepped into the shower stall and turned on the water, slumping against the cold black tiles and sliding to the floor with his head in his hands.

He couldn't remember the last time he'd openly cried- it might have been when his grandpa died when he was fifteen and he may have shed a tear or two with Jake when their football team crashed out of the running, but right now the tears were flowing thickly and freely.

Claire's mom's words played over and over in his head and couldn't help but agree with everything she'd spat at him- she'd never have come here if it wasn't for him and the guilt was consuming.

Quil forced himself to his feet and through the routine of washing before stepping out of the shower and toweling off.

He walked back into the main room and collapsed on to Claire's side of the bed, burying his face into her pillow.

* * *

Quil handed over the room keys and turned to leave, his cell phone pressed firmly against his ear as he sought out the next flight home.

"Is there anything cheaper? What about tomorrow?" he asked walking out onto the street and heading in the direction of the hospital. "What? But that's even more than the one you just offered me!"

He clutched Claire's backpack tightly in his free hand and ran across the busy street, "fine I'll take it." Quil rattled off his payment details and pocketed his phone and after making a couple of stops to ask for directions he finally made it back to the hospital.

He made his way up to Claire's floor and stood in the reception area, his eye's glued on the corridor that led to her small room.

"Puis-je vous aider?" Quil turned towards the desk and the lady that sat behind it.

"Uh, Claire Young," he held up the backpack. "I, shit! Je…"

"Are you family?" The lady smiled and Quil breathed out a sigh of relief at her English.

"No I'm not, I just wanted to bring her stuff," he explained. "Could you make sure she gets it?"

"Of course." She reached over and took the bag from him, placing it behind the counter and with one final glance, Quil turned back towards the elevators.

He pressed the button and shoved his hands in his pocket as he waited, rocking back on his heels as a ding sounded from behind him.

"Quil?" He turned to find Claire's mother exiting the lift opposite with two polystyrene cups in her hands.

"I'm just leaving." The doors opened in front of him and he stepped in, keeping his eyes on the buttons as they began to close.

"Wait!" Claire's mom almost dropped the cups as she shoved her hands between the closing doors and Quil frowned as he helped her push them back open. "Can we talk? Please?"

He nodded and followed her to a small alcove that contained a group of chairs, a coffee table and a water dispenser, dropping into a chair on the other side of the table from her.

"I- I wanted to apologize," she said, fiddling with the plastic lid on her cup. "I shouldn't have said the things I did yesterday, but you have to understand how worried I was?"

Quil nodded and leant forward on his knees, waiting for her to continue and his stomach fell at her words.

"Why didn't you bring her home?" she asked. "After the first time, you should have brought her home, she would have been safe."

"I tried to keep her safe, you have to believe me?" he pleaded. "If I had known she was seventeen I would never have even considered bringing her here and when I found out, just after the first incident with James Duane, I tried to get her to come home.

She refused to leave the room so I left her there, but I got as far as the next street and changed my mind- I couldn't leave her, I would _never _leave her. That was the night you called."

"A couple of days later I took her to Disneyland. The police forgot to inform us that James had been bailed and he must have followed us there, because she saw him- she saw him and she didn't tell me. If she had I would have gotten her out of there, but she didn't and I didn't know until he cornered her in a maze." Quil told her as she watched him with watery eyes. "I didn't want her to worry so that night I told her they'd arrested him and the next morning I tried to get her to leave again, but she wouldn't listen so I made her promise to call you. I thought that if she spoke to you or her dad then you would convince her to go home- I guess she never did that, huh?"

She shook her head, "No she didn't. If she had I would have been on the first flight out to drag her back!"

The silence that fell between them was palpable and the hum of the hospital seemed deafening in comparison.

She stood, brushing off her creased black slacks and picking up the cups. "She's been asking for you."

Quil's head shot up, "she's awake? When?"

"About three hours ago," she nodded " would you like to see her?"

He stood so fast he almost tumbled backwards and followed as close to Claire's mom as he could manage without over taking her, stopping momentarily to grab Claire's bag back from the receptionist before practically running into the room.

Claire sat huddled on her side, her arms curled around herself as she drowned in Quil's forgotten sweater.

She heard the door to her room open and the soft click of her mothers shoes, followed by her fathers exasperated sigh.

"What's he doing here?" She opened her eyes, the beeps of the heart monitor sped up as her eyes landed on Quil.

"Quil!" she ignored the searing pain in her chest and felt the dressings on her knees stretch and tear as she pushed herself onto them and held her arms out in a silent request.

Quil crossed the room in seconds gently enveloping her in his arms and shushing her sobs as he guided back down onto the bed.

"Careful Claire-bear, take it easy," he whispered squatting next to her.

"My mom said you left, I thought you weren't coming back!" Her voice was barely audible and Quil smiled as he thumbed away a rogue tear that rolled down her face.

"I could never leave you, you know that- I just went back to take a shower and I got your bag too," he held up her backpack. "See? I thought you'd appreciate your own pajamas."

Claire's hand reached for his face, her fingertips tracing the shape of his brow as he smiled up at her. A throat cleared behind them and Quil tore his eye's away to find her dad staring at him.

"George, these coffees are terrible." Her mom said tossing the drinks into the waste bin in the corner of the room.

"They'll do, Joy." He replied, his eyes still boring into Quil.

"Let's go get some more-" she demanded grabbing her purse and pulling open the door, tapping her foot when her husband refused to move. "Now George."

George huffed and stalked from the room and Quil sighed.

"Guess my first impression could've definitely been better!" He joked grabbing the empty chair and positioning it beside the bed.

"They asked you to leave didn't they?" Claire asked and Quil nodded. "And you listened to them?"

"Your mom is one scary woman!" he exclaimed, his face softening when more tears slipped down her cheeks. "This is my fault Claire, I brought you here and I put you in harms way. You're parents had every right to send me away, I just want you to get better and get back to your normal life."

"What about what I want?" her bottom lip quivered. "I wanted to wake up and find you here, I wanted you to tell me everything's okay and that nothings changed."

"Oh baby!" Quil rose from his seat and gripped her face, "You're okay and that's the only thing that matters right now, do you understand me? You're gonna get better, go home, ace all your classes and do whatever the fuck you want with the rest of your life."

"What about you?" She asked and he scoffed, thumbing her cheeks.

"I'll be wherever you need me to be!" His lips found the top of her head, and her hands squeezed his wrists as he pulled back to look at her.

"Tell me what happened?" The smile fell from Quil's face and he backed away to sit in the chair.

"Maybe we should wait for your parents, I…" Claire cut him off.

"No, I need to know!" She demanded and he sighed. "Was it you?"

He shook his head. "You have no idea how much I wish it was."

"Please, Quil?" He felt his resolve crack.

"Laurent knew what James was up to," he started. "He told him he had his sister and was using it as leverage to get him to help. We found out after I caught him in the street and Grenier managed to convince him to take us to you."

_The second Inspector Grenier opened the rear door of his unmarked car, Laurent was darting for the front of a derelict house. The windows and door were caged, half of the roof was missing and the front yard was filled with putrid trash bags- it was hard to believe anybody could be living in there._

"_Arrêtez!" Grenier called after him and leaned inside the car for his radio, reiterating the call for backup as Laurent tugged on the metal sheet the covered the entrance and dug into his pocket for a screw driver._

_Quil watched on as he slipped inside the house, exiting the car at the sound of raised voices coming from inside and Grenier ran towards them._

_He bolted after him, entering the building just as James and Laurent went tumbling to the floor._

_Grenier reached into the fray, pulling Laurent out as he landed one final punch on James stomach._

_James grunted out a laugh, pushing himself backwards against the wall, his hand brushing against the handle of the screwdriver that protruded from his abdomen._

"_Grenier," he chortled, cuffing the blood that ran from his nose. "Nous retrouvons finalement! Je suppose que vous avez trouvé mon cadeau? Un tel gaspillage, mais je ne pouvais pas m'empêcher de me-si doux, si innocent. Belle Victoria."_

_Grenier growled, reaching for his belt and Quil's head turned as heard him cock the gun._

_Laurent's hand came down on the barrel, and Grenier lowered it to his side, his trigger finger still twitching._

"_Où est-elle?" He demanded and James chuckled again, rolling his head to the side and Quil could see Laurent's shoulders begin to shake with anger. "Dites-moi où elle est!"_

"_Ici," he nodded towards a closet door. "Elle a été là tout le temps."_

_He headed for the door and James turned to Quil. "Why do you always show up just before the real fun starts?"_

_There was a deafening roar and Laurent dropped to his knees in front of the open closet, his hands hovering in the darkness as a rancid smell filled the room._

_Grenier rushed to his side, while Quil covered his nose, attempting to block out the stench. _

"_Oh Babbette, pretty Babbette," James grinned. "She was sweeter than all of them, almost ruined me. She was a little fighter- like your Claire, such a shame when she finally gave up. I think I would have like to have kept her around a little longer._

_Ne me dites pas non, Babbette, Vous êtes le seul comme ça avant, S'il vous plaît, Babbette, c'est toi que j'adore!"_

_Quil doubled over, vomiting in the corner almost falling into it when a loud shot rang around the room._

_James' eyes were wide, but his mouth still held his wicked sneer as Laurent dropped the gun to the floor and sat in front of him._

"_Je vais m'asseoir ici et je vais vous regarder mourir," he said quietly and Quil watched as James' grey t-shirt turned dark with his blood. "Je vais écouter comme vous noyer dans votre propre sang."_

_James coughed and blood trickled from the side of his mouth as he stared at Laurent. _

_The front door creaked open and an officer poked his head round, his eyes widening in shock as they landed on James. "Je vais appeler une ambulance."_

"_NON!" Grenier shouted, halting the man in his tracks. "Il n'ya rien que nous pouvons faire pour lui."_

_The officer stiffened, but nodded and disappeared behind the door._

"_L'enfer est trop bon pour vous." Laurent spat and James' head slumped a little. Grenier gripped his arm and pulled him to his feet, holding his hands behind his back as he placed him in cuffs._

"_She's in there." Quil's stomach flipped at his mumbled words. "Tell her I'm sorry."_

_Quil yanked open the door, trying to find any shred of life in the darkness that greeted him. He heard a whimper and stepped towards it, the light from the doorway allowing him to make out a cowering silhouette. He bent down, hesitantly touching an arm._

"_Please don't." A voiced begged. "I'll do anything you want, just please don't-"_

"_Claire-bear?"_

"You know the rest." Quil slumped forward in his chair, his head resting on his hands when he felt her fingers twisting the hair at his neck. He looked up, greeted by her teary eyes and a watery smile.

"It's not your fault." She whispered. "If you hadn't have found Laurent, then I probably wouldn't be here. I'm safe and I'm whole.

You saved my life, Quil and I'll never be able to repay you for that."

Quil pushed from his chair, carefully gripping her waist and pressing his lips to hers with a contented sigh. "I don't deserve you, you know that?"

* * *

**E/N: I decided not to have Claire be the victim of rape, just in case that didn't come across in the chapter. I felt that it wasn't a storyline that I could do justice so I didn't want to attempt it and end up with something so totally unbelievable that it was just bad.**

_"Nous retrouvons finalement! Je suppose que vous avez trouvé mon cadeau? Un tel gaspillage, mais je ne pouvais pas m'empêcher de me-si doux, si innocent. Belle Victoria."_

"We finally meet! I guess you found my gift? Such a waste, but I couldn't help myself, so sweet, so innocent. Beautiful Victoria."

_"Dites-moi où elle est!" _"Tell me where she is?"

"_Elle a été là tout le temps." _"She was there all the time."

_"Ne me dites pas non, Babbette, Vous êtes le seul comme ça avant, S'il vous plaît, Babbette, c'est toi que j'adore!" _"Don't tell me no, Babbette, you're the only one like this before. Please Babbette, it's you I adore!"

_"Je vais m'asseoir ici et je vais vous regarder mourir...Je vais écouter comme vous noyer dans votre propre sang." "_I'll sit here and i'll watch you die...I'll listen as you drown in your own blood."

_"Je vais appeler une ambulance." _"I'll call for an ambulance."

_"Non...Il n'ya rien que nous pouvons faire pour lui." _"No...There's nothing we can do for him."

_"L'enfer est trop bon pour vous_." "Hell is too good for you."


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Here it is, as promised. This chapter totally didn't go where I planned for it to go, I tried for fluffy, I really did! Good news is, the next chapter's started and there's probably only two (at most) and an epi before I can mark this complete.**

**Reviews are, as always, greatly appreciated.**

**Redx**

* * *

Quil shifted nervously in the passenger seat of Mister Young's rental car, his eyes flicking between the road in front of them and the stiff man beside him as they made their daily trip to the hospital. He was actually missing Joy's presence in the car- she was a buffer and at least she spoke.

"Uh, I don't think I've said thank you yet," he mumbled, watching George out of the corner of his eye. "Ya know for putting me up and stuff, I appreciate it."

"Don't thank me," he grunted in reply as he navigated a monstrous roundabout. "If it were up to me you'd be out on your ear. I don't trust you as far as I could throw you- you have Claire and her hold over her mother to thank for you still being here."

"Well," Quil coughed at turned his wide eyes to the window "thanks anyway."

"And don't think you'll be staying in that room with her," Mister Young continued, his face turning an unpleasant shade of red that made Quil grateful they were going somewhere with medical professionals. "I don't know and I don't care what you got up to while you were alone with her, but when she gets back to the hotel, you're are on the couch and you will not be behind any closed doors with her."

"Hadn't even crossed my mind." He said, frowning when George scoffed.

"Don't forget that I was your age once, I know how you think." He chuckled.

"With all due respect sir, you're not me! You want the truth?" Quil finally turned to him as they pulled up the parking lot of the hospital. "You're right. Claire is beautiful; she's more than beautiful- inside and out. She's amazingly smart, funny and strong, and she calls me on my shit like no one else. Any single guy in their right mind would take more than a second look at her. Do you know how I met her?"

George slid out of the car and Quil followed. "She kicked me in the balls."

"She did?" He asked and Quil nodded. "Good girl."

"Despite what's happened and what you think of me, I've had nothing but her best intentions at heart," he told him as they entered the elevator. "And I've been nothing but honorable towards her, you have my word."

"Well let's keep it that way shall we?" George muttered, straightening his shirt collar. "We might just manage to get along."

Quil managed to suppress his grin as they arrived on Claire's floor, fighting the urge to barrel her father out of the way as he led him towards her room.

"Morning daddy!" He heard her chirp as George blocked the doorway. "Is Quil with you?"

"Where else would I be?" Quil peered over his shoulder to find Claire standing at the edge of her bed, dressed in jeans and his sweatshirt and stuffing the rest of her belongings in her bag. "What are you doing out of bed?"

"They said I was well enough to leave," she grinned. "Didn't dad tell you?"

"Of course I did!" George chimed in and Quil rolled his eyes.

"Guess I missed that part of the conversation," he mumbled walking over to Claire and tossing his arm around her shoulder, pulling her into his side and pressing his lips to the top of her head. "Hey baby."

Claire's bruised smile lit up her face as she unabashedly turned into his body and rose on her tip toes, her mouth finding his in a chaste kiss.

"I missed you." She whispered, brushing her fingers over the stubble on his chin.

George cleared his throat. "Let's go sign those discharge papers, shall we?"

Claire chuckled and her mother threw her an exasperated look as Quil grabbed her bag and took her hand with his free one, leading her from the room.

Her parents signed the paperwork and she clamped herself to his side all the way to the car, tearing herself away under protest when her mother insisted she sit in the front passenger seat so that she had more leg room and she spent the entire journey with her hand threaded between the seats so that she could hold his.

Quil dutifully ignored the glares her mother sent his way.

He followed the family into their suite, not missing the fact that the sofa had been pulled out and made up into a bed in their absence and as he went to deposit Claire's bag in the room he had been using, he collected most of his things and hid them behind the couch.

"Let's get you settled into bed, huh?" Joy said and Claire groaned.

"I just spent three day's laying in bed, mom," She replied, carefully dropping herself onto Quil's sofa bed "that's the last thing I wanna do. You know what I really want? To have a bath- with bubbles and everything."

She turned to Quil. "If I put my suit on will you help me wash my hair? It hurts to lift my arms."

Quil stood rigidly silent and Claire frowned up at him. "Uh, I don't…"

"I'll help you sweetie." Joy smiled, heading towards Claire's en-suite bathroom without waiting for an answer.

"Maybe you should go for a walk?" George suggested and Quil nodded, grabbing a room key before leaving them to it.

* * *

Quil sat bolt up right in his bed, the sheets pooled at his waist as he tried to find the source for what had woken him.

A strangled cry coming from Claire's room had him jumping from the bed with barely a second glance at her parents cracked door. He crossed the threshold and almost ran to the side of her bed, finding her curled up into a ball, her comforter clenched tightly in her hands as tears streamed down her face.

Quil knelt next to her, reaching out to touch her shoulder.

"Claire, wake up baby- it's just a dream," he whispered, shaking her softly. "Claire-bear?"

She shot up with a yelp and Quil recoiled with a groan as her forehead connected squarely with his nose.

"Oh my god, Quil!" Claire scrambled onto her injured knees with a grimace. "Shit, what- what are you doing?"

"You were crying in your sleep," he told her, one hand pinching his nose and the other reaching for hers. "Are you okay?"

"Bad dream," she frowned pulling his hand from his face. "Oh you're bleeding! I'm so sorry!"

"Its fine," he tipped his head back and stood from the bed. "Just gonna use your bathroom."

Claire nodded and jumped up after him, quickly darting to her door to push it shut before following him into the lavishly decorated bathroom. Quil sat on the side of the tub, staring up at the ceiling with a bundle of tissue held to his face.

"Let me see." She said quietly, pulling the wad from his face, the bleeding now slowed from a trickle to an ooze.

"It's not broken," he hissed as she pressed her fingers lightly against it. "I've had worse, Jake threw a football in my face about two years ago and I swear it didn't stop bleeding for hours!"

Claire grabbed a washcloth from beside the sink and ran it under the water, turning back to Quil and standing between his knees as she dabbed away the drying blood.

"I think you might have a couple of black eyes," she grimaced as he looped his hands lazily around her waist. "We'll match!"

"Are you sure you're okay?" Quil pressed gently. "You haven't really talked about it much- maybe you should?"

"No," she shook her head, coughing against the sting of tears. "I'm being silly. I know he's gone. I know he's not going to come back for me, but I just can't block it out and I'm trying so hard to go back to normal…"

"Hey?" he lifted her chin to look at him. "Just because he's dead doesn't make what he did go away! He frightened you and he hurt you…nobody expects you to forget right away, it's impossible, but if you talk to me- talk to us then maybe we can make it easier."

"I'm sorry Quil." Claire swallowed and fixed her watery eyes on his. "For everything."

"And you can stop apologizing too," he scoffed, pointing to his face. "This is the least I deserve. Come on; let's get you back to bed."

Claire stepped back, Quil threw the bloodied tissue down the toilet and followed her into the room, pulling back the bed covers and letting her slip underneath them.

"Will you stay?" She asked and Quil sighed, turning to look at the door- half expecting to find one of her parents there.

"I don't think so Claire-bear," he shook his head. "Your dad doesn't really want me here as it is, if they find me here with you then I'll be out of here quicker than you can say 'shallow grave'."

"I'll set an alarm for before they get up and you can go back out," she suggested tugging him down next to her. "I promise not to get grabby!"

Quil chuckled, "well I guess I would be lying if I told you I didn't like it when you get grabby, and it has been a little different waking up with your dad staring down at me rather than with you wrapped around me."

"So stay, please?" Claire pouted and he groaned, pushing himself from the bed.

"I'm sorry Claire, but I can't." He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "I'll see you in the morning."

"You don't like me anymore." Quil stopped in his tracks and turned back to her with an open mouth. "I mean its okay, I get it- he didn't do anything… ya know, but the bruises and the scars. I'm damaged goods."

"Shit Claire! That's not it at all!" he stalked back over to her, sitting on the edge of the mattress next to her. "I gave your dad my word that I would…respect you, and if he finds me in here it's not gonna look good."

He cupped her face. "You're still beautiful, the bruises don't change that and the scars just remind me how brave you are. I still want you Claire-bear, if anything you mean even more to me now."

"No, its okay, I…" His lips pressed against hers, mindful of her still tender lip and wincing slightly when his nose knocked hers.

Claire's hands rose to his chest, her touch sending little tingles across his skin as she kicked off the covers and draped herself across his lap, pressing herself impossibly close to him.

"Claire," he breathed gently gripping her waist and easing her back "slow down, you're gonna hurt yourself."

"I don't wanna slow down!" she exclaimed placing her hands lightly on his neck, her thumbs tracing the cut of his jaw. "And the only way I'm gonna get hurt now is if you hold back from me. You were right the last time, I wasn't ready- I was scared of loosing you before I even got the chance to see what we could be, but I was right too. I nearly lost it all."

Her forehead dropped to his and she nuzzled his cheek, her eyelids falling shut as his hot breath hit her neck. "I'm not stupid Quil, I'm not going to delude myself into believing that we can last forever- in fact I'm pretty sure that as soon as we get back home that they'll be someone taller, or prettier, someone's who's more perfect for you than I am.

I don't want to wait until it's too late. I want this, Quil, I need this- I need you."

She heard the exact moment his resolve shattered, a deep growl rumbled in his chest and his throat vibrated under her fingertips.

His arms looped around her, crushing her back to him and he felt her wince at the pressure on her damaged ribs, but she only held him tighter so he didn't let go.

"You're wrong," he ground out, tilting his head back until he could see her face, her eyes were squeezed shut, the tear tracks on her cheeks glistened. "So wrong."

"Please?" She whimpered softly, tensing a little as he lifted her off his lap and lowered her onto the bed.

Quil knelt between her legs, peppering her face with kisses and leaving no skin untouched as he traced his finger tips up her arms and gripped her wrists, breaking her hold around his neck.

"No, Claire," his voice was barely audible as he stood up and backed away from, not daring to speak any louder for fear of his voice cracking. "I don't want to hurt you, but I can't give you what you want…not like this."

Claire's hands flew to her face, muffling a strangled cry as she drew her legs up and rolled onto her side.

Quil's vision blurred as he continued to back out of the room, feeling frantically behind for the door handle. His shoulders shook violently as he sunk back into the darkness of the main room and turned back towards his own bed.

"I think you should leave." George's deep voice alerted Quil to his presence and all he could do was nod before he wordlessly pulled on yesterday's clothes and grabbed his backpack from its place behind the sofa bed.

He stuffed the last of his things deep into the bag, his hand wrapping around an object stashed between his clean socks.

"Do you know much French Mister Young?" Quil asked and her father shook his head stiffly.

"Tell her I'm sorry- that I wish I could be what she needed and if you could giver her this," he held his hand out and a small key chain fell from his fist. A tiny enameled globe with an engraved silver band suspended around it. "I would be very grateful."

George stepped forward and held out his hand, catching the trinket in his palm and watching as Quil turned and fled the room.

He didn't bother to wait for the lift, bursting through the door to the stairwell and flying down the steps, relishing the burning he felt in his lungs because it dulled the pain in his heart. He didn't stop running until he hit the street and the doorman immediately stepped into the road and hailed a taxi.

"Au revoir monsieur, avoir un voyage agréable." He said as Quil slipped into the backseat and the door slammed behind him.

"Airport." He demanded, refusing to look back at the hotel.

* * *

Claire tried to open her eyes, her lashes had stuck together and her skin felt tight from the dried tears. She shot up in the bed, wincing as the action disturbed her stiff ribs, but pushing it aside and bolting for the door.

Her dad was dressed in his customary suit, and sat at the small table by the window drinking his morning coffee. The cup paused halfway between the table and his mouth as she entered the room, but he didn't acknowledge her.

Her mother was bent over what had once been Quil's bed. It had been pushed back into its couch form, the sheets folded neatly at one end while Joy smoothed out the abandoned pillows.

"Where is he?" Her voice was frantic as her father carefully placed down his cup and came towards her.

"I warned him." He told her, and she let out a shuddering breath. "I caught him coming out of your room last night, it was the last straw."

"He's gone…" She reached out for the back of the couch, her other hand clutching at her stomach as she turned on wobbly feet and headed back toward her room. "He promised he'd never leave."

Joy ran after her daughter, guiding her back onto the bed before she fell and perching on the side and carding her fingers through her hair in an attempt to sooth her.

"He promised." Fat tears seeped from her eyes and her mother shushed her.

"I know baby, I know." She crooned as George rounded the bed.

"He left you this." He placed the globe on the bedside table and Claire stared for a moment before reaching out and slowly turning the ring to read the inscription.

"Mon monde tourne pour vous." She whispered and her mother sighed knowingly, glancing up at her husband who frowned.

Joy shook her head in dejection "It say's 'my world turns for you'".

* * *

Translation:

**"Au revoir monsieur, avoir un voyage agréable." **"Goodbye sir, have a pleasant journey."


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: I know I posted on another story yesterday stating that I probably wouldn't be posting for a while- yet here I am again! I found a wall to bounce my head off (sadly Alex Meraz's abs weren't available) and knocked myself back into gear.**

**One chapter left after this, no promises as to when though so I hope this keeps you going- It seems to flow a little differently to the rest of the story, I'm hoping it's not too confusing.  
**

**Reviews are greatly appreciated. Red.**

* * *

Claire felt like a five year old as she sat in the back of her parent's car, waiting to disembark the ferry and make the trip up to Neah Bay.

They had barely let her out of their sight since _that_ morning, and while (deep down) she was grateful for their efforts to distract her, she had been craving time alone to wallow in her own anger and self pity. This weekend, however, wasn't the time to do it.

"You okay, Mom?" She asked and Joy turned in her seat, offering her a stiff smile that didn't quite reach her tear reddened eyes.

"I'm fine honey, I'm just being silly" she said, reaching back between the seats to pat her daughters knee. "What about you, you doing okay?"

Claire nodded and turned back to the window, resting her chin in her palm as she watched the world whiz by, loosing herself in her head.

It had been just under a month since he'd left- In hindsight it hadn't been that long at all, but she felt like he'd been gone for years.

Within a week she'd been declared well enough to fly home. Her bruises faded enough that people didn't stare as she walked down the street and a follow up appointment with the family doctor had seen the last of the stitches removed- the only evidence left of James Duane was an inch long scar on her right cheek that she had been assured would eventually fade and an occasional ache in her ribs.

But it was nothing compared to the pain she'd felt since Quil had left.

The biggest wound, the deepest hurt had happened when he broke his promise and left her, and she wasn't entirely sure there was a stitch big enough to bring that void back together.

The past couple of weeks had been spent at her parents city apartment, her mother had contacted the school and informed them that she would be taking the rest of the semester off. Half of her resented her for removing her only chance of being able to see him, but the other half was emphatically grateful for the reprieve- she couldn't handle being rejected again.

Nights seemed to be the worst, when there was nothing else to distract her from herself and she was left alone, in the dark.

The small amount of time she'd spent with Quil had afforded her the opportunity to become used to his closeness. She missed the heat of his body as he tucked himself around her and burying her nose in his skin- breathing him in, but most of all she craved his arms and the safety she felt while she wrapped in them.

Without him, the nights seemed endless.

But she had been forced to push her feelings to the side three mornings ago when she finally ventured down stairs, only to find her mom curled up on the couch with a ball of tissues in one hand and the phone in the other as she tearily informed her that her Uncle Harry had passed away.

Claire didn't remember much about Harry apart from a vague recollection of a beach party when she was much, much younger and the odd story that her mother had relayed to her over the years, but he was the reason they were now making the journey to the reservation. Her mother had insisted that she attend the ceremony and she couldn't find the will to fight.

A large truck roaring pass brought her out of her head with a start, and she sat up straight taking in her surroundings. Her mom had fallen asleep in the front seat and her father stared silently out of the windscreen as he turned onto a new road.

Claire's eyebrows knitted together as she read the road signs. "I thought we were going up to the reservation at Neah Bay?"

George's eyes flicked to the rear view mirror as he sighed. "No, Harry wasn't part of the Makah tribe, your aunt is. He is-was, an elder of the Quileute tribe at La Push."

"La Push?" her heart stuttered in her chest. "Dad, I'm not feeling to good- can I go home?"

"Don't be silly Claire, we're almost there." he exclaimed and Joy stirred in the seat next to him. "Listen, I know you've been through a lot and I can't begin to understand how you're feeling about the whole thing, but your mother needs your help now. It's your turn to be there for her."

Claire nodded. "I know. I'm sorry."

The closer they got to the reservation the worse she began to feel and by the time First Beach came into view, her nails were bitten to the bed and her cuticles were raw.

George pulled into the curb and released his seat belt, turning in his seat to face his daughter.

"You wanna take a walk?" he asked softly, pointing to the beach. "If you follow the shore line from here you'll reach the village in about ten minutes. It'll give you a chance to gather yourself before the ceremony, but you need to be there honey- for your mother's sake.

When you get there, look for your Aunt Emily's place- it's a little green and red house set right in the far left corner."

Claire was minutely grateful as she grabbed her jacket from the seat next to her and opened the door, offering a pathetic wave as her father slowly pulled off and disappeared round a corner.

She found a narrow foot beaten path on the cliff top and walked slowly along it, scuffing the toes of her boots in the sandy clay as she hugged herself against the wind.

La Push- Quil had told her he was from this reservation, about playing on the beach with his best friends Jake and Embry and their failed attempt to runaway to James Island when they were eleven and how it resulted in Embry breaking an arm and all three of them being grounded for the rest of the summer.

She followed the path further along, her eyes falling on a couple sat on top of a large rock about halfway down the beach, their heads pushed together in deep conversation.

The woman pulled back and did a little dance in her seat and, although Claire couldn't make out the words, she could just about hear the melodic sounds of whatever she was singing.

She watched as the man nudged her with his elbow, knocking her off balance and leaping from the rock before she could retaliate.

"Quil. You idiot!" Claire's stomach fell at the sound of his name and the air left her chest with an audible whoosh as the girl ran after him- leaping on his back and dragging them into a tangled heap in the sand.

Frozen to her spot on the cliff, she watched as the girl stood and brushed herself before offering her hand to Quil and pulling him up, beaming at him as he tucked her under his arm and said something to her.

"I can't be here," she whispered to herself, "I need to go."

She ran, loosing sight of Quil and the girl until she came to the village, frantically trying to recall the house they were supposed to be staying at and finally spotting a small red and green house with her father's car parked outside.

Claire all but burst through the front door, causing her father and a much younger man to jump to their feet.

"Claire, sweetie-" her mother came in from another room, her brow knitted in confusion. "What's wrong?"

"I can't stay here, I need to go!" she said quickly, her eyes darting round for her bag. "I need to go back to the city."

"What for?" her mother stepped closer, reaching out and grabbing her arm to get her attention.

"I'm sorry, I just need to leave…" she refused to meet her mother's eyes, trying to wrench herself from her grip to get to her bag on the other side of the room.

"No," Joy exclaimed and Claire's head whipped around. "I've had enough of this. I get that you've been through a lot this past few months- I get that you're hurting, but this isn't about you right now! This is about you being here for your family, for me. Just like I've been there for you."

Claire blinked, her eyes wide with shock at her mother's outburst.

"Now please go and get dressed, we're leaving for the funeral home in half an hour." Joy pointed towards the back of the house and she nodded, retrieving her bag and letting Emily lead her to the bathroom.

* * *

Quil sat in the middle of his childhood bed, his head next to the small window as he thumbed through a tattered comic book.

Somewhere in the house his sister was yelling at his mother, about what exactly he wasn't sure, but she'd decided to spend the weekend at home to attend Harry Clearwater's funeral- which meant that she staying under the same roof as him and that was usually a recipe for trouble.

He didn't really want anymore trouble, the fact that he'd run off to a foreign country with a stranger and then come back, only to drop out in his second to last year of college had been enough to earn him the 'we're not angry, we're just disappointed' speech.

He'd have preferred anger; it might have made him feel a little less shitty.

Quil sighed heavily, tossing the comic aside and, for what felt like the thousandth time that day and uncountable times since he'd left her, he fished his phone from the pocket of his cargo shorts and scrolled through to the only physical proof he had of _her_. A single picture.

She was wearing her mouse ears and a huge smile as she scoffed on the cotton candy she'd insisted she didn't want, but had quite happily eaten when he'd bought it anyway.

This was how he wanted to remember her- happy. Not hurt and broken like he'd left her.

"That your girlfriend?" his head shot up and he found his sister leaning against his door way. "Little out of your league, don't you think?"

"What do you want, Lulah?" he asked exasperatedly as she folded her arms across her chest.

"Mom says you've hardly left this room in the two weeks you've been here," her voice was almost kind. "It's a nice day outside, come to the beach with me."

"Thanks, but no thanks." he sighed, letting his head drop back against the wall. "I don't really feel like going outside."

"Oh I'm sorry!" Lulah stooped over her him. "Did that sound like a request, because it damn well wasn't. Get your pansy ass off the bed and outside."

He cut his eyes at her, "get out, Lu. I'm really not in the mood for any of your shit right now!"

"Aww, poor little Quilly," she jutted out her bottom lip in an over exaggerated pout and he rolled his eyes, barely noticing as she dove for his phone. "Race you to the shore, if I get there first your girlfriends going in the water!"

Quil leapt off the bed, not even bothering to find his shoes as he sped after his sister, his face red with rage.

"This isn't fucking funny, Lu!" He yelled as she ran cackling down the path. "Give me back my phone, or-"

"Or what, Quil? You'll tell on me?" She exclaimed. "I'm quaking in my boots!"

She turned off the beach path and he lost sight of her.

He pushed himself harder, his eyes frantically scanning the edge of the water. "Talulah!"

"Up here, fat head!" he stopped next to a boulder that, at it's highest point, came level with his shoulder. She sat Indian style on the flattened top, grinning malevolently at him.

"Where is it?" Quil scrambled up the rock, ignoring the pain as he stubbed his bare toe on a particularly jagged section and stopping next to her.

Lulah cocked an eyebrow and held out her hand, his phone lying in her palm. He snatched it from her and stuffed it back into his pocket before slipping back down onto the sand.

"You're not the only person to have had their heart broken, you know?" she said and he stopped. "The world can't stop turning because she doesn't love you back."

"You have no idea what you're talking about, Lu." he squinted up at her and she patted the empty space next to her.

"So tell me," she shrugged. "Make me understand."

He thought for a second before climbing back up, tucking his knees to his chest and hugging them.

"It wasn't her fault, and she didn't break my heart," he looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "I broke it- I broke both of 'em."

"Men!" Lulah scoffed and he grunted as he started to move away. She reached her hand out and grabbed his arm. "Sorry, it's just its kinda weird getting all deep and meaningful with you- I feel like I should punch you or something!"

"This was your idea, you got me down here." he grumbled. "This isn't exactly my idea of fun either."

"Okay," she offered him a smile as she squeezed his arm. "I'm listening properly now, I promise."

So Quil started from the beginning. He told her about the night he found the purse, and how the same girl had turned out to be his new study buddy.

She kept her mouth shut when he told why he made the spontaneous decision to go to Paris with a girl he hardly knew and became suitably angry when he described their first encounter with James Duane.

"Tell me you tore his nuts off!" she seethed. "For the love of god, please tell me that man is rotting somewhere?"

Quil nodded, "I'm getting to that part."

He clamped his hand over her mouth, when her age came up and she punched him when he reminded her about ruining her childhood love of fairytales.

"You scarred me for life, ya bastard!" Lulah exclaimed. "That trip to Disneyworld for my tenth birthday was ruined because of you- I ran screaming from Prince Charming just in case he tried to run away with _me_!"

"Hey I paid for that, remember? There's photographic evidence and everything." he reminded her.

"Okay, I'll drop it- for now." she scowled and the let out a sigh. "When did it change?"

"What do you mean?" Quil frowned and she shot him an exasperated glare.

"This girl, when did she stop being a friend? Because there's no way you're this fucked up over 'just a friend'" she even added her own air quotes.

"I don't know," he shook his head. "I can't tell you when I first noticed it; it sort of snuck up on me- well as much as it could in a week anyway.

If I'm honest though? I think it may have been there from the start."

"All the best relationships are built on friendship," Lulah told him and he scoffed. "Hey, it's a valid assumption, don't knock it. Mom believes it."

"She does?" his brow knitted.

"Yeah!" she gave a rather unladylike snort. " I pretty much had her believing that you and Jake were a couple for the past two years- told her there was no way you two could be that close and not have anything going on. Of course then you had go and ruin it by coming back here and pining over some girl!" she finished with a sigh.

"Where the hell do you get all this shit from?" Quil exclaimed turning his body towards her. "You have got to be one of the most evil people on the planet!"

"Aww thanks big brother, I love you too!" she grinned, shoulder checking him a little harder than necessary. "So- finish telling me about your mouse girl?"

"It's Claire, okay? Her name is Claire." he clicked his tongue. "It turned out that she felt the same about me and after that I couldn't fight it anymore, everything just felt so easy with her- it felt right, but then it all got really fucked up!"

Quil found a loose pebble and gouged at the boulder as he told Lulah about the abduction, his body locked tight and his eyes fixed on what his hand was doing as he recounted everything Inspector Grenier had told him about James and how dangerous he was.

"You blame yourself, don't you?" she asked softly, leaning her head on her knees as she watched him. "She was lucky to have you there, Quil. If you hadn't spotted that other guy, who knows what would've happened- how long she would've been there."

"She shouldn't have been there in the first place." He whispered.

"And what about if you didn't take her with you? It wouldn't have stopped James from taking another girl- there's no telling how many women he would've killed." she pressed. "I'm a firm believer in everything happening for a reason and when he chose your girl he made a mistake. Yes, she got hurt, but now nobody else will."

"I wish I could see it that way." Quil hung his head between his knees.

"So if you like each other that much, why isn't she here with you?" Lulah ducked to see his face.

"Because I couldn't give her what she needed," he rolled his eyes when her eyebrows disappeared into her hair line. "Not like that! What I mean is she…it seemed like she wanted me to take it all away, make her forget it ever happened. You can't just erase something like that and I didn't want it to be the reason that she…not for her…"

Lulah smiled tentatively as he trailed off, "I get it, don't worry."

"I didn't mean to leave, I regretted it as soon as I got on the plane, but I was angry at her- I was angry at myself," he shook his head. "There was a moment there when I actually considered it; I was so close to giving her everything she asked for. What kind of asshole does that make me, huh?"

"You're not an asshole Quil, you're a guy- there's a marginal difference!" she exclaimed. "You stopped yourself, so quit beating yourself up over it!"

They drifted into silence, the water lapping further up the shore as the tide came in and Lulah let out a soft sigh as she hugged her knees.

"I thought I was in love once," she said quietly and Quil shifted his head to look at her. "I realize now that I wasn't, but at the time it felt so deep and it hurt so bad when I realized I couldn't be with him."

"Who was it?" He asked and he watched his little sisters face bloom an impressive shade of red.

"Jake." she winced in embarrassment and Quil snorted out a laugh. "I think I was about twelve when it started and mom threw you that beach party for your sixteenth birthday, remember?"

He nodded and she continued. "Mom let me bring a friend so that I wouldn't feel left out and when we went to get some food, you, Jake and Embry were standing there and Jake did that thing he always did- pulled my hair and hip checked me out the way so he could get there first."

"To me that was normal, he'd done it for as long as I could remember, but my friend made a big deal out of it. The way she saw it meant he liked me and him doing things like that was him finding ways to get close and touch me without being obvious."

"And you actually believed that?" Quil cocked an eyebrow. "Jake?"

"I was twelve! Anyway, I started paying more attention to him and suddenly he wasn't just Jake, my brothers best friend anymore- he was cute, smart and funny Jake." she shrugged. "I got so hung up on him and it went on for years. I was convinced he liked me and that we were supposed to be together and when you left for college and he went with you I was so heartbroken!"

"Seriously, Jake?" he flinched as Lulah's fist hit his side. "Shit, cut it out!"

"Stop taking the piss then, I'm trying to be serious here!" she growled and he apologized.

"I was infatuated with him, obsessed even," she said. "I think I was in love with the idea of someone loving me, but it wasn't real love."

"How did you know?" Quil's voice was low, his eyes scanning the horizon.

Lulah scraped her teeth over her bottom lip. "I found an old book in Grand Papi's house a couple of days after he died- it was an English translation of the old Quileute legends that he used to tell us, you remember those?" Quil nodded. "Well, buried in amongst all the stories about wolves and cold ones was this tale about soul mates- I think the book called it imprinting.

According to the story, it was believed that all it would take is one look at the right person and you would be bound to them for the rest of your life. That person becomes your everything, your reason for breathing- together you can be the happier than you could imagine but being apart would bring unimaginable pain, it's like…"

"Your world spins for them." Quil mumbled, twisting his fingers.

"Exactly!" she exclaimed loudly, making him jump. "I think that is what true love feels like... But you would know more about that than me."

He turned to find her grinning at him, her eyebrow cocked in silent challenge.

"Quil and Claire sitting in a tree K-I-S-S -" she screamed, catching her balance on the side the rock when Quil elbowed her sharply.

"Quil- you idiot!" he was already on his feet and running through the sand when she leapt off the rock. "Get back here so I can kick your ass!"

Lulah sped after him, giggling as she gained on him. He looked back over his shoulder and darted sideways trying to dodge her outstretched hands, stumbling a little when she grasped his collar and jumped on his back.

He bent at the waist, gripping the arm she had wrapped around his neck and span on the spot, a squeal ringing in his ears as her knees lost there purchase on his waist and her legs went flying out behind her.

"Jesus Christ Lu!" he made a show of staggering under her weight, dropping them both in the sand. "I think you weigh more than Jake- Ouch!"

Quil clutched the arm his sister had pinched and pushed himself upright.

"Come on Casanova, Harry's funeral starts in an hour and we've still gotta get dressed." she reached a hand out and helped him up.

"Hey, Lu?" he tossed his arm around her shoulder. "Thanks for talking to me, it actually helped."

"Your welcome," she said squeezing him back, "But if you breath a word of this to anyone? I'm putting Nair in your shampoo bottle!"

"I love you too, Sis!"

* * *

Claire clutched her mothers hand as they walked into the over crowded chapel, breathing a sigh of relief when an initial scan of the room showed no signs of Quil.

She tucked her hair behind her ear and straightened her dress as Joy dragged her towards yet another person she didn't recognize and was ever so slightly grateful when they were invited to sit.

A silence fell over the room and Claire watched as a man with a plait of long , dark hair wheeled himself to the head of the congregation. She tried to listen to his words, catching pieces of what she was sure- judging by the tears that fell down his and many others faces, was a heartfelt eulogy, but her mind kept dragging her back to the sight on the beach.

She was startled when her father dragged her to her feet and she looked around to find that the service had finished and a group of men were making their way towards the beautifully decorated wicker coffin that sat at the head of the room.

They lifted the casket effortlessly, placing it on their shoulders as if it weighed nothing and began to turn towards the exit.

A shuddering breath left her as her eyes found those of the Pallbearer closest to her, watching him stumble a little as he noticed her, his lips silently forming her name.

Her mothers hand gripped her waist. "Now isn't the time, Claire." she whispered and her eyebrows rose.

"You knew he was here?" she asked and Joy nodded. "Why?"

"Because I can't stand seeing you like this Claire-bear." she cupped her daughters cheek and Claire choked a little at her use of Quil's nickname for her. "I hate seeing you hurting."

"But I saw him," she shook "he has someone else!"

"Talk to him baby," Joy thumbed away her tears. "You owe it to yourself - even if it's just to end it properly."

Claire's eyes traveled up the aisle, finding Quil's back as he left the chapel, his head twitching as he fought the urge to look back at her.

"I don't know if I can!"


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Okay here it is- the final chapter. My first complete multi-chapter story... I'm completely bricking it! **

**Epilogue still to come- reviews are, as always, greatly appreciated.**

* * *

She was postponing the inevitable, she knew that. There was only so long she could go without running into him, whether it was here or back at school, it was going to happen.

The sun was beginning to set as Claire circled the Clearwater's house one last time, listening to the soft hum of people inside as they reminisced about an absent friend. A sudden round of laughter broke out inside and was swiftly followed by an angry screech before the screen door slammed back on it's hinges and a girl she recognized as Harry's daughter, Leah, came crashing out.

"How dare you!" she yelled, stumbling angrily from the porch as others poured from the house after her. "My dads dead and you have the gall to sit there and fucking laugh like he doesn't even matter!"

"Come on Leah, you know it's not like that?" a large man tried to reason with her as he tucked a woman with auburn curls protectively under his arm.

"Get the fuck out of my house Jake!" Leah seethed, her shoulders heaving with anger. "In fact, everyone just get the fuck out- you don't deserve to be here!"

Another guy came running from the house, and Claire's breath caught as she noticed Quil trail slowly after him and stop next to Jake.

"What the fuck do you think your doing, Lee?" he exclaimed walking towards her and straight into the trajectory of her flailing arms. Claire edged around them and closer to the porch, her eyes flicking from the scene playing out in front of her to Quil, who had yet to notice her.

"She hasn't said so much as one word since the day he died," she heard Jake tell him quietly. "It was bound to happen at some point- Embry'll calm her down."

"Babe- you can't keep on like this!" Embry gripped Leah's face in both his hands, bending down to meet her eyes as her hands latched onto his wrists "Let it go, its okay. It's okay!"

Her legs wobbled as a choked sob wracked through her, her knees gave out and Embry followed her to the ground. He scooped her up against his chest, her hands clawing at the collar of his dress shirt as she wept uncontrollably into his shoulder."Jake?" he called, turning his head toward the porch and Jake nodded.

"Keys are in the ignition, I'll swing by in the morning to pick it up." he waved him off. "Just get her out of here- I'll let Sue know you've got her."

Embry carried her off towards a row of cars and the people that had collected outside began to trickle back into the house. Claire stood stock still as Quil stuffed his hands in the pockets of his dress pants and leaned in to say something to Jake, his eyes making a quick surveillance before they landed on her.

Jake bumped his arm to get his attention and cocked an eyebrow in her direction as his girlfriend tugged him back inside.

Claire hugged herself as he jumped the porch steps and cleared the distance between them, his lips slightly parted as his eyes searched her face.

"You're actually here? I thought that I was…" he shook his head and a wide smile broke out across his face. "You're more beautiful than I remembered."

"That's not exactly hard is it?" she swallowed thickly. "Considering how you left me."

"Claire- Bear…" he started, reaching out for her.

"Don't," she stepped back. "Don't call me that."

"I'm sorry Claire," Quil said softly, stuffing his hand back in his pocket. "I didn't want to leave, I…"

"Then why did you?" she exclaimed. "You promised me, Quil, you said you wouldn't leave me and then right when I needed you the most- you're gone."

"Damn it, Claire! You threw yourself at me and that wasn't what you needed!" her cheeks turned pink. "I didn't want you to be with me so that you could forget for a while- and trust me when I say I could have made you forget everything!"

Quil blew out a breath and shook his head, the patchy turf underneath his feet suddenly becoming a lot more interesting. "I left because I was asked too and because I thought you deserved better- more, than what I could ever give you.

I wanted you to want to be with me because you loved me, Claire- that's why I want to be with you."

Claire's heart was beating rapidly inside her chest, she was sure that he would be able to hear it as she felt herself edging towards him.

"You…" she was cut off by the screen door opening, all her words stuck in her throat as she was greeted by the image of the girl she'd seen wrapped around Quil on the beach earlier in the day.

"Hey Quil," she propped open the door with one hand and placed the other on her hip. "You're needed inside."

Quil turned towards her. "Not right now, Talulah. Can you give us a minute please?"

"Uh, if by 'us' you mean you and that girl who just ran off, then I'm not sure there's much point?" she replied, cocking her eyebrow as he whipped his head back around in Claire's direction to find her gone.

"Claire?" he turned back to his sister and began walking backwards. "Which way?"

"Holy shit, was that her- mouse girl?" Lulah exclaimed and Quil growled.

"Which fucking way?" he yelled and she pointed toward the beach.

"Just be yourself!" she hollered. "No wait- forget I said anything. That'll just make her run faster."

Quil gave her the finger and took off running. The sun was almost completely down and an ethereal, pink glow covered the shore line when he spotted her, heels I hand, walking at the edge of the waves.

"Claire! Wait, please." he jogged after her, a wave crashing over his feet and soaking his shoes and socks. "Stop walking away from me!"

"What, you want me to stand there and watch?" she turned to him, dark streaks of mascara trailing down her face. "Don't you think you've hurt me enough as it is?"

"I have no fucking idea what you're talking about!" he exclaimed, throwing his arm out exasperatedly.

"Her, that girl back there!" she yelled, pointing back in the direction they'd come. "Talulah- I saw you on the beach earlier and it didn't exactly look like you were missing me!"

"Are you…" he frowned before his eyes widened. "Oh my god, you're serious! That was my sister, Claire, she's my little sister."

Claire squeezed her eyes shut.

"You really think I would do that to you?" Quil asked softly. "That I would be trying to tell you I love you while I've got another girlfriend waiting feet away? I though you knew me better than that, Claire-Bear."

He turned away from her, walking back up the beach, muttering under his breath.

"Quil!" Claire called his name before she could second guess herself and he came stalking back towards her, his jaw locked tight.

"I just- I'm…" he huffed loudly and grabbed her shoulders, pulling her to him and her hands flew up in surprise, her shoes tumbling into the sand as she gripped his arms and he smashed his mouth against hers with reckless abandon.

She loosened her grip and threw her arms around his neck, the momentum making him stumble backwards in an effort to keep them both from falling into the wet sand.

There was no hesitancy as his tongue swept over her lips and she welcomed him with a sigh, her hold on him unrelenting as he finally pulled away to rest his forehead against hers.

His hands encircled her waist, and his eyes fell shut as her fingers left his neck and tickled their way up to his face.

"I fucking love you Claire," he breathed. "I don't think I can make it any clearer to you."

"I fucking love you too, Quil." she grinned as his eyes snapped open.

"You shouldn't curse; it's unbecoming." he chuckled, tilting his head to catch her lips again.

"I learned from the best." she giggled and he shrugged and nodded.

"You believe that I didn't want to leave you, don't you?" Quil asked and she smiled up at him, her fingers tracing his cheeks. "I wish I hadn't left- that I'd ignored your father and stayed where I was. I can't take any of it back, but if you'll let me then I'll do everything I can to make it up to you."

"Come on," he let go of her waist and grabbed her hand. "As much as I'd love to stay here with you, I really should get back to the wake."

Claire dipped to retrieve her shoes, letting Quil lead her back along the beach and towards the house, giggling when he stopped feet from the porch and pulled her back into another searing kiss.

"Oh god!" the door swung open and Quil groaned at the voice. "Stop trying to swallow the poor girl."

He pulled her into his side and turned, "Claire, meet Talulah- my lovely sister!"

"You can call me Lulah- or Lu." she smiled, jumping the steps and holding out a hand. "So you're the girl who reduced my brother to a blubbering idiot and made him come running home to mommy, huh?"

Claire's eyebrows rose and she stammered, "well I- we were…"

"You'll have to share your secret with me sometime," she grinned looking back over her shoulder as someone walked up behind her. "Hey Seth, you ready to go?"

"Yeah, I need to get away from here- Rachel and Emily are gonna stay with mom tonight, but I just…" he trailed off and Lulah reached for his hand.

"Don't worry about it," she smiled. "You wanna take my car or yours?"

"Your's is fine," he sighed turning to Quil, who observed them both with quiet surprise. "Hey thanks man, you know for helping out at the funeral home and stuff."

"Don't mention it." Quil waved him off. "You heard from Embry yet?"

Seth nodded. "Yeah, Leah was asleep by the time he got them back to the apartment. I'll talk to her in the morning."

"Well let me know if you need anything?" Quil said, clapping him on the shoulder before turning to Lulah with a cocked eyebrow. "I'll guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Sure." she smiled, slipping her arm around Seth's waist. "Nice meeting you Claire."

Quil watched as Seth tucked his sister firmly under his arm and walked her away, leaning over to press his lips to her head.

"I'm guessing you didn't know about that?" Clair asked, nodding towards the couple and he shook his head.

"Absolutely no idea-" he replied turning his attention back to her. "Do you wanna just get out of here? Everybody else is leaving; we have no reason to stay."

Claire nodded. "I didn't see my dad's car either; they must have left for Sam and Emily's already."

"I'm just gonna run inside- get my jacket and let my mom know I'm headed home, gimme a sec?" Claire nodded and Quil bounded up the steps and disappeared into the house, returning moments later with his jacket in hand. He slipped it over her shoulders and gestured to the heels on her feet.

"You okay walking in those things? The house is on the other side of the rez." he asked.

"I'll manage." she shrugged and let him lead her away.

Claire stood nervously on the threshold of Quil's bedroom as he flicked on the small beside lamp, throwing a dim orange glow around the room. Her eyes scanned the walls- posters of sports cars, thrash metal bands and scantily clad women staring back at her.

"I've been meaning to take them down," he winced noticing where she was looking. "My mom never bothered to take them down after I left, and I've been a little distracted since I got back."

He toed of his soggy shoes and socks, and pulled at his tie, tugging the noose over his head and hanging it on the end of the bed.

Claire shrugged his jacket off her shoulders, her bare feet sinking into the pile of the carpet as she walked over to his bed and sat down.

"You left Seattle?" she asked and he nodded. "Why?"

"Couple of reasons," he mumbled, unbuttoning his shirt. "I decided that engineering wasn't for me- it's not who I am."

"Well who are you then?" Claire cocked an eyebrow as Quil sank down next to her.

"I'm not sure yet," he shrugged. "I'll figure it out eventually."

"What else?" he sighed and turned his head toward her.

"I lost my job just before we went to Paris," he told her. "I couldn't keep up my part of the rent on mine and Jake's apartment so I signed it over to Ness, his girlfriend and I didn't feel right staying there with them…and then there was you. I didn't think I could live with being in the same city and not seeing you."

"So if I didn't come here…?" he brushed the pad of his thumb over her lips to stop her words.

"If you hadn't come here, I would have probably lasted another week _at most_ before I came to find you, Claire." he said softly. "You heard Lulah; I was a blubbering mess without you!"

Claire chuckled and pushed herself into his chest, her body moving with his as he lay back on the bed, putting himself between her and the wall. "I wasn't much better." she admitted, brushing her fingers along the indent of his collar bone.

"I missed you Claire-Bear." he murmured throwing his arm over her, the movement of her fingers relaxing him, his eyelids becoming heavy.

"I missed you too, Quilly- I love you." she whispered back.

Quil forgot where he was for a moment. His eyes remained shut as he let out a deep sigh, willing himself to go back into the dream he's just woken from- he'd give anything to be back there, with Claire in his arms.

He rolled, trying to get himself comfortable, frowning when his back hit the solid wall beside his bed and his eyes flew open, trying to focus on the now dark room.

He twitched as something tickled across his stomach, a soft pressure on the centre of his chest making his heart stutter as he forced himself to look down.

It wasn't a dream after all- she was really there.

The hand that had been resting lazily over her waist flew to her hip and he felt her jump a little as his fingers dug into the supple flesh, the motion of her lips against his skin halting momentarily before she resumed with renewed vigor, her fingernails lightly scratching a path from his stomach to his chest.

"I thought I was dreaming." he said softly, trailing his hand up her arm, feeling little goose bumps prickle her skin at his touch.

"Me too." she sighed as he cupped her jaw and brought her face away from his chest, leaning down to capture her lips in a soft kiss.

Claire felt herself melt under his caress, unconsciously moving her body closer to his until there was no room between them.

His hand left her face, trailing back down her arm to her hip and down the length of her skirt until his rough hands found the smooth skin at the back of her knee, his fingers pressing in as he lifted her leg over his hip.

Her breath hitched as he pushed the material of her dress up, and his hand stopped as he pulled back from their kiss to look her.

"I'm sorry baby, I got carried away." Quil dropped his head back on to the pillow and reached for the hem, tugging it back down.

"No wait, I…" her hand covered his. "I want…"

Quil's eyes searched her face, "Tell me what you want, Claire-Bear."

"I want…" she trailed off breathlessly, tugging his hand up to her waist and placing it over the tie that secured her dress. "I want you, Quil- I want you to make love to me."

He pulled her flush against him, his mouth finding hers in a wild kiss which she returned vigorously. His hand left her waist and roamed her curves, a small shiver coursing through her as his thumb grazed the round of her breast before returning to her hip.

She didn't stop him as he once again gripped her thigh, uncovering each inch of silky skin with measured movements until he gripped the swell of her butt and pushed her into him, sharing a gasp as his clothed hardness pressed eagerly against her heated core.

Claire pushed herself away from him, standing from the bed and resisting the urge to chuckle at the look of sheer confusion on his face as he stared up at her.

"What…?" his eyes followed the movement of her hands, widening slightly as she pulled at the tie of her dress, letting it fall open, her toes curling with nerves as he stared at the newly revealed skin.

Quil sat up and swung his feet to the floor. "You're amazing you know that?" he asked, his eyes fixed on her face as his hands disappeared behind the folds of her dress, stroking her stomach, gently grasping her hips and pulling her closer.

At the first touch of his lips on her skin, her body ignited, liquid fire flooding her veins, her breath leaving her mouth in a gasp as his tongue circled her belly button and slipped to the band of her underwear.

He tugged at her dress, hooded eyes watching greedily as it pooled on the floor behind her, leaving her in a black cotton underwear set and a low groan escaping him as he dragged her into his lap, his hands as frenzied as his kisses as he clutched her close.

"Quil!" she breathed tipping her head back, opening up her throat to his hot mouth, mewling at the sensation of his hands finally cupping the supple mounds of her breasts, his thumbs teasing her nipples into stiff peaks.

Claire rolled her hips, shamelessly seeking friction from him as he pulled at the cup of her bra, the wet heat of his mouth enveloping the taut pink bud and coaxing a lustful moan from her.

"Quil, please!" she wasn't sure what she was asking for, but he seemed to understand, lifting her from his lap and laying her back on the bed, his body coming to rest beside hers.

She arched her back and reached behind, unlatching the hooks of her bra and pulling it from her body, her cheeks burning under Quil's hungry gaze.

"Uh, this is feeling a little unfair." she stammered, glancing down at his dress pants and Quil grinned, standing up on the bed and tugging at the button of his pants, wiggling exaggeratedly and shaking them down his hips as she giggled, kicking them to the floor before dropping to his knees and hovering over her.

He stretched out, settling into the cradle of her hips, her legs drawing up and around him, the heels of her feet digging into the backs of his thighs as he rocked slowly against her.

"Are you sure about this Claire-Bear?" Quil's voice was low and raspy, his hands sweeping across her heaving chest and between the valley of her breasts.

"I'm sure," she breathed as his lips dragged down her throat. "Totally- completely…oh!"

Quil shifted his weight to the side as he gripped the waist band of her underwear and tugged. Claire lifted her hips, shivering as his knuckles grazed through tight curls, dangerously close to her centre.

"It's not too late." he said as she rolled to face him, reaching out to cup his face and craning her neck to join their lips.

"Yes it is." she whispered, her foot hooked over his ankle and swept up the back of his leg, pulling his thigh between hers.

"Let me know if I do something you don't like." Quil turned his attention back to her neck and a soft sigh left her mouth, her eyes fluttering closed as his lips nipped, sucked and nibbled at her flesh.

His fingers glided around her waist and back again, and he repeated the movement over and over, his hand gradually slipping lower and lower until he found the patch of damp curls nestled between her thighs and the cleft hidden beneath them.

A whoosh of hot breath hit Quil's chest as his fingers found her core, probing and teasing the slick folds.

"Holy shit!" Claire exclaimed as he circled her clit, her hips jerking into his hand and he groaned, his head dropping to the pillow.

"You can say that again." he growled, pressing a digit inside her until he met resistance and he was suddenly nervous.

He stilled his hand and Claire opened her eyes, finding his in a clouded gaze, "I love you Claire Young." he said earnestly and a small smile tugged at here lips.

"I know you do, I love you too." she replied lazily, "just please don't stop anymore?"

Quil leaned in, claiming her mouth with his as his hand started to move again- his thumb tracing imaginary patterns around her nub while his finger teased her entrance, slipping inside when she pulled her head back, her mouth falling open as her breathing speed up.

Her body arched into his hand as a new heat began to spread from where he played her, her arm flew up over her eyes and he speed up his movements, adding another finger when her walls began to flutter and clench with the promise of her orgasm.

"Quil, I…" her free hand gripped his shoulder, her skin flushing pink as her climax washed over her and Quil pressed his hand forward, his fingers breaking through her barrier mid wave and causing her to jolt in discomfort.

"Sorry baby," he soothed, stroking her through her tremors, feeling the muscles of her thighs twitch against his arms. "Are you okay?"

Claire lifted her arm from her face and nodded, "I want more."

Quil climbed over her and off the bed, pulling open his bedside drawer and rooting around inside until he found a single foil square hidden in the back.

Claire watched as he tugged at his underwear and let it drop to the floor, her lips going between her teeth when she saw his prominent erection.

He rolled the condom over his shaft and crawled back over her, settling between her legs, the head of his cock nudging at her opening as he braced himself over her.

"We'll go as slow as you want." he told her and she nodded, closing her eyes as he pressed into her, a strangled grunt seeping through his clenched teeth, the muscles in his arms trembling as he paused and withdrew before thrusting back in.

Claire groaned in frustration as he stopped and withdrew again, her legs lifted and curled around his hips. Tilting her hips and digging her heels into his thighs, she drove him forward, both of them crying out as he sheathed himself inside her- whispered curses falling from his mouth at the feeling of being encased in her tight heat.

Quil finally moved above her, setting up a steady rhythm as he claimed her mouth again, her hands moving up to bury themselves in his hair as her body started to move with him, her hips rolling and dipping in time with his own. She felt pleasure starting to coil again in her stomach, as he drove himself into her again and again, his thrusts becoming erratic as he sped towards his climax, his hand slipping between their sweaty bodies in search of her nub. They were both shaking when he uttered a strangled cry, his hips jerking hard against her, tipping her over the edge as he pulsed inside her, his whole body shuddering in his release. Claire held him tightly against her as he rode out his climax, his panted breath rushing out against her overheated skin.

Quil slipped from inside her and rolled onto his back, bringing her with him so that her head lay on his chest, right above his thundering heart.

He leaned down and kissed the top of her head, his hand finding her warm cheek and threading into her hair.

"Tomorrow, I'm leaving tomorrow." he sighed and Claire sat bolt upright.

"What? Why- where are you going?" she exclaimed with a tight frown and Quil grinned, pulling her back down.

"Relax, Claire- Bear," he tightened his grip around her. "I'm going back to Seattle; I need to find a job so I can stay there with you."

"Really?" she squeaked, tilting her face up towards him. "You're coming back?"

"You'll be lucky if you can get rid of me!" he snorted. "The past month was excruciating- never again."

"Thanks, Quil." Claire smiled softly and it was his turn to frown. "For being you, for being there for me- helping me and for loving me. I think getting on that plane with you was the best thing I ever did!"

"Is this the part where I'm supposed to say thank you for kicking me in the balls?" he chuckled as she slapped his chest. "I love you Claire- always."


	14. Epilogue: It Takes a Man

**A/N: So here it is. It's short, it's sweet and it's the end of TCB. I guess I should thank keepthechange for giving me her story in the first place, it's wouldn't be here if she didn't start it.**

**Also a huge thank to everyone who read and reviewed- there weren't many, but the ones I had were the best and inspired me more than they could imagine.**

**So without further ado-**

* * *

"Hey baby!" Claire called as she walked into the apartment, dropping her bags and keys on the small entrance table and cocking an eyebrow at the scene that greeted her. "Well you look like you've had a productive day!"

Quil grunted from the sofa, his eyes firmly fixed on the simulated football game on the screen in front of him, his hands flicking over the controller as he mumbled obscenities into the microphone of the headpiece he was currently sporting.

"Hey Jake!" she said, leaning over the back of the couch and resting her head on Quil's shoulder.

"He say's hey," he told her, pulling an earphone away from his head and turning to press a quick kiss against her lips. "Listen man, I better go…sure, same time Wednesday. See ya dude."

Quil disconnected the headpiece and tossed it aside.

"You didn't have to stop playing, I don't mind." Claire said slipping next to him on the couch, and tucking her feet underneath her. She reached forward and grabbed a can of soda from the table, her face contorting in disgust when she took a sip.

Quil snorted and took the can, tossing it into the waste paper basket next to the couch "Yeah, that's been there a while. How's your day been?"

"Unlike yours- very productive!" she chirped eyeing a bag of chips.

"How is shopping with Ness productive?" he asked, "If anything it's detrimental to our bank balance."

"Would it help if I told you I spent an hour in Victoria's Secret and I did not leave empty handed?" she smirked as his eyebrows shot up and he nodded enthusiastically. "I thought it would."

"Can I see?" Quil bounced in his seat.

"Honestly you're worse than a kid at Christmas!" Claire exclaimed, "And no, you can't see. You'll just have to be a good boy and wait!"

"Fine," he huffed and snatched up his controller, starting a new game. "Anything else you wanna tease me with?"

"No, I think I'm good for now, but I'll let you know." she patted his shoulder and watched the little men run around on the screen.

"So I found out something really interesting today," she said, turning towards Quil who mumbled a disinterested 'yeah?' "Did you know that certain antibiotics stop birth control from working? Because I never knew that!"

"Yeah, that's great." he replied his eyes still fixed on the screen; his fingers flicking wildly as one of his players were tackled to the floor. "Mother fucker!"

"And you know what else? Babies can hear in the womb from twenty weeks, how cool is that?" Claire watched her boyfriend as he pretended to listen to every word she was saying. "It might be a good idea for you to cut back on the swearing."

"Sure thing, Claire-Bear," his tongue poked out between his lips as he concentrated. "Oh for fuck sake, I swear this game has it in for me, I should just throw the fucking thing out of the window!"

"Great start there, honey!" Claire pushed herself from her seat and walked back towards the front door, searching through the bags before locating the one she was looking for, checking its contents and returning to Quil's side.

"What you got there?" she finally had his attention.

"I bought you something," she told him dropping the bag on to the coffee table in front of him. "I thought you might like it."

Quil paused his game and placed the controller in his lap, reaching forward and delving into the bag, pulling out a tiny white baseball jersey.

"Mariners right? See I even got your name put on the back." Claire tugged it from his hands and turned it round to show him the black and green letters that spelled out 'Ateara' on the back.

"Its great baby, it's just-" he grimaced as her face dropped. "I guess I could frame it?"

"If that's what you want, Quilly." she sighed and stood, waiting for him to pick up his controller before pulling out another bag and dropping it next to him. "I got you a book too; I thought you might find it interesting."

Claire walked into the kitchen and busied herself with the kettle, reaching into the cupboard in front of her and pulling out a new jar of decaf instant coffee and pulling a face at the prospect.

"Are you serious?" Claire yelped and jumped around to find Quil standing in the doorway, a copy of _'My Boys Can Swim: The Official Guy's Guide to Pregnancy_' held out in front of him.

"Damn it Quil, you scared me!" she breathed holding her hand to her chest.

"Claire!" he tossed the book on the counter and stalked towards her. "Are you…is there…seriously!"

"Wow!" Claire chuckled. "I can think of about a handful of times in the past four years where I've managed to render you speechless, but I have to say I think this is the best yet!"

"This isn't funny Claire," he trapped her against the kitchen table. "Are you pregnant?"

Claire chewed her lip as she looked up him, nodding her head once.

"But you're on the pill!" he exclaimed and Claire cocked her head.

"I knew you weren't listening to me earlier," she scowled, pushing from his grip and going to get her hand bag. "I didn't believe it myself, but after I stopped the antibiotics for that chest infection I still didn't feel too great and Ness thought it might be a possibility so I met her at the hospital for lunch the other day and she got me a test from the pharmacy and- well…"

Claire pulled a sheet of paper from her bag and held it out to him. "Ness drove me to my doctor to confirm it this morning."

Quil stood silently, his eyes reading over the results on the page.

"Quil, honey?" she edged slowly towards him. "Are you feeling okay? Do you maybe wanna sit down?"

Claire pulled out a dining chair and guided him into it, slipping carefully into the one next to him as she waited for a response.

He finally turned to her with wide eyes, "are you sure that…"

"If you even think about finishing that sentence, I will end you!" she exclaimed, pointing at him.

"What? No!" he blanched. "I was just gonna ask if you were sure it wasn't some kind of clerical error- those happen right?"

Claire's heart fell. "You- you don't want it?"

Quil's mouth dropped open in horror as he sucked in a deep breath, practically falling out of his chair and onto his knees in front of her. "Shit baby, no! That's not what I meant at all!"

"But you don't seem happy about It." tears streamed down her face and Quil sighed, sitting back on his heels and grasping her hands between his.

"You've gotta give me a chance to get my head around this, Claire-bear," he pleaded. "This is big fucking news; you have to understand that- It's been what? Three day's since you went to lunch with Ness? That's a seventy two hours more than what I've had to get used to the idea!"

"So you don't think it's a mistake?" she asked and he scoffed.

"How could this be a mistake?" Quil's hand left hers and came to rest on her flat belly, prompting a whole new wave of tears from Claire.

"I love you so much!" she wailed as he rose up onto his knees and enveloped her in his arms.

"I love you too babe." he chuckled, squeezing her gently before pulling away and grabbing a paper towel. "This is gonna happen a lot, isn't it?" he asked as she blew her nose and nodded.

"Come here." Quil took her hand and pulled her from the chair, his lips finding hers in an effortlessly deep kiss that quickly spiraled out of control.

"So," Claire panted as he attacked her neck, his hands slowly creeping up, under her shirt. "You wanna see what I bought at Victoria's Secret?"

"Oh hell fucking yes!" he growled, pulling back from her, tugging on his belt and dropping his shorts to the floor, watching as Claire carefully peeled of her clothes to reveal a lacy red underwear set that sent his pulse sky rocketing.

Claire let out a little yelp of surprise as he grabbed her waist and dropped her on top of the table, her legs locking around his hips as his erection pressed against the inside of her thigh.

Quil reconnected their mouths, his hands taking in every curve and dip until he cupped her breasts. "These are gonna get even bigger, right?" he smirked as she slapped his arm.

She couldn't stop the wanton moan that left her lips, as he pinched at her overly sensitive nipples through the lacy barrier of her bra, her hips rolled reflexively against his and his whole body stiffened.

"What's wrong?" she frowned as he pulled away, wide eyed.

"What if I hurt the baby?" he whispered, "I could, you know, hit it on the head or something?"

"Are you serious?" Claire blanched. "Quil, you're not gonna get anywhere near the baby, it's all tucked up safe and sound. Besides it didn't hurt anybody when you woke me up at four o'clock this morning, did it?"

Quil sighed and leaned back into her neck, his hands gripping at her hips before he suddenly pulled away again. "But I didn't know about the baby then!"

Claire huffed and straightened her bra straps, sliding off the table to grab her discarded clothes. "Here," she said, pressing the book into his chest. "I'll be in the bedroom when you're done reading it."

* * *

**E/N: If you made it this far, well done and thanks again. I'm gonna concentrate on finishing some of my other fics- especially 'Worth Every Scar', but I will be working on a Seth/Talulah story in the background if anyone's interested?**

**Redx**


	15. Six

**A/N: I know, I know- it's supposed to be complete, but I've been feeling really corny and this came out.**

**Just to let you know, I am still working on the out-takes. I'm not complete happy with them right now so I'm not sure when they'll be up, but they will definitely be up! (Same for the Seth and Talulah fic).**

**Anybody like visual aids? I have a problem visualizing Tyson Houseman as Quil- he just doesn't fit the character description for me so I have been using Daniel Conn, an Australian rugby player (of course I don't expect everyone to agree with me, but you should at least Google him- the guy did a naked calendar and I am not ashamed to admit that I am a _big_ fan!)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"I thought you said it was going to be sunny!" the door to the apartment burst open and Claire walked in, her soaked dress clinging to her frame and arms held out to the side, rainwater dripping from her fingertips as Quil trailed in after her tugging at his shirt.

"Hey, I just repeated what the guy said on the news this morning," he held up his arms in surrender. "I don't actually have any power over the weather- I'm good, but I'm not that good!"

"I am a week over due, I've had back ache all day, my bladder has become a squeeze toy and I'm soaking wet-" Claire scowled. "Don't push me."

"Hey I've got an idea- I'll run down to the store, buy a jar of baby food and put between your legs and-" he walked his fingers through the air "that baby will just come crawling out!" Quil quipped, cocking an eyebrow at his now seething girlfriend.

"You are such an ass, do you know that?" she growled, stalking past him into their bedroom.

"You may have mentioned it once or twice in the past few months, yeah!" he shouted after her, wincing as the door slammed shut.

He leaned against the kitchen counter, legs crossed at the ankles and the wet denim chafing his skin as he stared at the door.

Okay, so maybe he shouldn't have said that, but this was hard for him as well. He hated seeing her so uncomfortable and most of the time he was happy to take whatever she threw at him, but it really wasn't his fault that the weather had turned.

Quil pushed himself on to his feet and crossed the room, grabbing the door handle, but quickly thinking better of just barging in and raising his hand ready to knock. A soft sob stopped him and he pushed open the door to find Claire sitting on the edge of the bed in her underwear, her damp hair hanging limply around her face and her dress clutched to her stomach as she sniffed back tears.

"Shit Claire, I'm sorry!" he hurried over to her, squatting at her feet. "I didn't mean it; you know I have a big mouth."

"I know- it's not your fault, I'm just so fed up! I'm tired, I ache from head to toe and look at me-" she pouted as she stood up and gestured to herself. "I'm half the size of a house!"

She looked down at him expectantly and his eyebrow slowly rose.

"If you're waiting for me to agree with you, it's gonna be a while." he scoffed and she huffed trying to push past him, folding her arms over her chest when he caught her hips and guided her back in front of him.

He shifted onto his knees, reaching up and untangling her arms, his hands catching hers with a slight tug to get her to look at him.

"I've always thought you were beautiful and I'm pretty sure- no, I'm certain I'll still think it when we're both old and grey and sleep with our teeth next to the bed, but this right here-" Quil nuzzled her belly, pressing his lips against the skin under her naval. "I don't think you've ever looked better and the only thing that will top this is when you've got him-"

"Her!" Claire exclaimed and he rolled his eyes.

"The only thing that could top this is when you finally have our baby in your arms." he smiled as her bottom lip quivered, standing up and turning her back to him.

She pressed herself against him, letting her eyes fall shut when his head came to rest on her shoulder, her hands covering his as he caressed the bump.

"I'm sorry for calling you an ass." she mumbled, turning her head to see him.

"I'm sorry for acting like one." he grinned, catching her lips in a sweet kiss. "So how about I run you a nice warm bath and then we can try the hottest curry from that take out place you love so much- we'll sweat the baby out!"

"That sounds good, I'm willing to try anything right now." she relented with a sigh, pulling from his arms and following him into the bathroom, perching herself on the toilet while Quil started the bath.

He added bubbles to the water and stepped aside as Claire peeled off her underwear, holding her hand out for him to help her into the bath, her skin flushing under his gaze.

"You coming in?" she asked shyly causing another smile to erupt over Quil's face.

"You sure?" he checked and she nodded, palming the water. "Let me get some towels and I'll be right back."

Quil returned moments later with two neatly folded towels and minus his shoes and socks. Claire watched as he tugged his shirt over his head, and just the same as ever, her heart flipped at the sight.

He dropped his pants to the floor beside the tub and she shifted as far forward as she could manage- allowing him to take his place behind her, his long legs cradling her body as she rested back against him.

She sighed wearily as his lips pressed against her temple, her eyes falling shut as she began to succumb to the soothing rise and fall of his chest.

"You know how much I love you right?" Quil asked softly and Claire hummed in acknowledgement as she felt him shift behind her to reach her body wash, his fingers gently tugging her hair out of the way before they began kneading and rolling her shoulders.

He ran a soapy hand down the length of her arm, lifting it towards him. "I think I've known since the moment I saw you that you were meant for me and with everyday I spend with you, it just makes me more certain- my world turns for you Claire Young." he traced the tiny words etched into the skin of her wrist.

"I love you too, Quilly." she purred, turning her cheek into his chest as he massaged each of her fingers in turn, "what brought all this on?"

"I just wanted to make sure you knew how much you mean to me." he said, dipping her hand under the water to rinse off the bubbles before clasping it in his own and raising it to his lips. "I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you."

Claire opened her eyes to glance up at him, a small frown on her face as he stared back at her before his gaze quickly shifted to their tangled hands, her frown deepening at the sparkle of blue and silver that now adorned her previously naked finger, "what-"

"Marry me." her head whipped round, and Quil looked down at her. "I should've asked a long time ago- my mom gave me that ring the day she met you, but I wanted to make sure that I could give you everything you wanted."

"You've always been what I wanted." she replied breathlessly and the corners of his mouth curled with the threat of the smile.

"Can I take that as a yes?" he smirked, his hand dropping softly on her swollen stomach as she carefully turned onto her side, cupping his jaw and drawing him into a kiss.

"Ouch!" she jolted away from Quil as he chuckled, gently pressing against the bulge of a foot that protruded from her side. "That one hurt."

"At least someone's happy for us!" he leaned a little closer to her stomach. "You hear that blip? Momma's gonna marry me!"

He felt another nudge under his palm and Claire grinned. "I think she heard."

"He." Quil scolded playfully before standing up out of the tub and helping her out. He pulled her into his arms, lips moving together lazily.

Claire groaned and he pulled back. "You okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine," she nodded. "I think it's just a bit of indigestion again. Do you mind if I lie down for a while before dinner?"

"What about my engagement sex?" he pouted exaggeratedly, flinching when she pinched his arm. "Hey I was just kidding- kinda. Of course I don't mind, take all the time you need baby."

He followed her back through to their bedroom and pulled on a pair of lounge pants, "Do you want anything before you settle down?" Claire shook her head and crawled up the bed, resting naked on top of the sheets and he cut his eyes. "Evil woman!"

Quil busied himself with straightening the apartment while he waited for their take out to arrive, taking the time to set their dining table and digging out some kind of battery powered candle that Claire's mother had given them as part of a housewarming present.

The doorbell rang, signalling the arrival of dinner and as he paid the delivery guy, he heard Claire wake and begin to move about.

"Quil?" she called as he pulled the containers out of the bag and began arranging them out of the table.

"Dinners here babe-" he replied, sucking some rogue sauce off his finger and heading towards their room. "The guy on the phone said that Phall was the hottest they do. You manage to eat this and blip will be here quicker than you can say…"

"I think my water broke!" he froze in the doorway, one hand clutching the frame in a death grip as he stared wide eyed at Claire. "Quil, please!"

Quil shook himself out of his stupor and ran to the closet, tugging one of her maternity dresses from the hanger and grabbing a stuffed duffle bag from a shelf. "Are you sure it was your water? You didn't just…you know-"

"I didn't piss myself Quil!" Claire yelled pushing herself from the bed and glancing down at the dark patch on the light blue sheet.

"I'm sorry babe, I just wanted to make sure." he said handing her a pair of underwear.

"I know, I just- I thought it was indigestion, but the ache just got worse and worse and when I sat up to come get you it just popped!" she exclaimed, reaching her arms up so Quil could pull her dress over her. "It's definitely not indigestion is it?"

Quil cupped her jaw and pressed his lips to her forehead. "No baby, it's not."

"I'm scared." she whispered and he sighed, reaching for her hand. "I don't think I'm ready for this."

"Of course you are, you're gonna do great- better than great, you'll be amazing!" he stooped down and helped her step into her underwear, pulling it up as he rose. "And I'll be right there next to you the whole time."

"You promise?" her voice was breaking as he gently led her out of the room, bag slung over his shoulder, dinner forgotten on the kitchen table as he snatched up the car keys. "Promise you won't leave me?"

"Never- now come on let's get you in the car and you can call your mom on the way."

* * *

Claire's eye's slipped shut, one hand wrapped around the rail of the bed guard and the other firmly gripped in Quil's hand as her body relaxed and tried to give into the exertion.

Outside it had gone from day to night in what seemed like the blink of an eye, as the nurse flitted around them, scribbling records and monitoring Claire and the baby while the doctor sat waiting at the foot of the bed.

Claire groaned and Quil sat upright with a start as she squashed his fingers together, her knees drawing up towards her body.

"I can't do this any more!" she cried, rolling onto her back as Quil reached over with his free hand to push away the hair stuck to her sweaty face.

"Yes, you can!" he said sternly, picking up the mouth piece for the gas and air and handing it to her as her eyes squeezed tight, her teeth biting into the plastic and a sound that was somewhere between a scream and a growl bubbling up in her throat. "You've been doing so great, you just need to go for a little longer and it'll all be over- she'll be here and it'll have been totally worth it!"

She let her head drop back onto the pillow, her breathing harsh as the wave of the contraction faded away. "You called it a she!"

"I did," he grinned, "only one way we're gonna find out for sure though."

"Okay," the nurse stepped up beside the bed. "No more resting, it's time to get that baby out- Quil you go round the head of the bed and Claire, I need you up on your knees."

Claire did as she was told, gingerly raising her self up on to all fours and crawling towards Quil, leaning over the pillow and looping her arms around his wide shoulders, breathing deeply as her stomach started to ache with the threat of a contraction.

"You can do this." he whispered as her grip around him tightened, and the doctor instructed her to push.

The doctor dipped down behind her, "now we're getting somewhere- few more of those and we'll have the head."

"No, no I can't do this anymore," Claire shook her head. "I need to stop- I can't…"

"You don't have a choice!" the nurse scolded. "It's too late for any kind of intervention, so if you want this over with you're gonna have to finish what you've started! Now push!"

"That's it Claire, You're doing great-" the doctor encouraged. "Your baby has got a lot of hair!"

Quil's head whipped towards her, "You can see it?"

"Sure, come and take a look." Quil edged around the bed, ignoring Claire's plea's for him to stay above her head, his eye's widening and his mouth dropping.

"Holy shit, there it is!" he breathed, leaning in.

"Get back up here, and watch your mouth!" Claire exclaimed. "I don't want the first thing the baby hears to be a curse!"

The room was filled with grunted shouts, whispered encouragements and barked orders. Claire stopped when she was asked and pushed when she was told too until finally, with one last wave of strength, a shrill wail shattered around them.

"Oh my god, oh my god!" she sobbed, dropping her head onto Quil's shoulder. "I did it! I did it!"

She sat back as the baby was passed underneath her and up into her arms, its cries quieting to sniffles and squeaks as soon as she cradled it to her chest, taking care to support it as she maneuvered herself back onto her back.

Quil leant over them, his eyes fixed intently on the newborn as it squirmed against Claire's breast. "You were fu…you were brilliant babe. I'm so proud of you- both of you."

"Want to cut the cord, Dad?" the nurse smiled at Quil who swallowed thickly in return, wiping clammy hands on his jeans before he reached for the scissors and cut where was indicated. "Aren't you curious as to whether it's a girl or boy?"

He turned his head towards Claire, who grinned back at him. "You were right- for once. It's a boy."

* * *

Quil sat in the chair by the hospital window, a blue bundle clasped firmly in his big arms as Claire watched them from the bed.

"You think you're dad will get over the name?" he asked, a small smile tugging at his lips as a tiny hand reached out from between the layers of blankets and gripped his thumb.

"Forget about it," she shrugged. "Dad's just being dad. He loves to wind you up and you know it!"

"Hey," the both looked up as the door opened and Jacob's head poked through- hand clapped firmly over his eyes. "You decent?"

"Come on in Jake, its fine." Claire grinned, pushing herself up with a wince.

"You sure? No boobies on show or anything- ouch!" Jake stumbled through the door with Renesmee, Embry and Leah behind him and Ness automatically scanned the room, her eye's finding the baby in seconds.

"Oh my god let me see!" she squeaked quietly, dropping her bag behind the door and running toward Quil.

"What are you all doing here?" Claire asked, "I thought visiting hours were over?"

"Ness pulled some strings," Leah shrugged. "Uh, congratulations I guess."

Jake pushed past Leah to get to the bed, leaning over to press a kiss to Claire's cheek, swiftly followed by Embry.

Renesmee cooed, her finger tugging at the blankets as Quil stood and walked towards his group of friends, accepting congratulatory half hugs and slaps on the back.

"Does he have a name?" Embry asked, cocking an eyebrow. "Or should we just take a guess."

Claire shook her head and chuckled. "Everyone, this is Quil Ateara- the sixth."

"Original!" Jake flinched as Renesmee slapped the back of his head. "What was that for?"

"He's gorgeous!" Ness exclaimed.

"Of course he is!" Quil scoffed. "Look at us, how could he not be?"

"Oh enough already just let me hold him!" Jacob rolled his eyes as his wife held her arms out to receive the baby and Quil turned a sly eye on him.

"Look's like you're next bro!" he shrugged. "Good luck!"

"Nah, we've agreed to wait until she's completely finished her residency," he glanced over at Ness. "Which I may have to remind her about later."

"Actually-" Embry rubbed the back of his neck nervously as Leah shot him a death glare which he chose to ignore. "Leah's kinda- pregnant."

"Dude, seriously!" Quil exclaimed loudly, causing little Quil to start and cry out. "Sorry!"

"What the hell, Em?" Leah growled. "I told you to wait- today's about their baby!"

"Oh don't be so silly!" Claire grabbed Leah's hand and squeezed. "Look's like I should be congratulating you too."

"Thanks." she smiled, squeezing back, following Claire's eyes as they went back to a shuddering Quil. "What's up with you?"

Quil shook his head. "I just imagined having another Embry running around- disturbing!"

"Hey!" Embry advanced on his friend, who chuckled and gently grabbed his son from Renesmee's arms. "Oh no, you don't get to use the baby as a shield- give him back so I can smack you."

"Can't hit the man holding a baby!" Quil chuckled, darting around the bed.

"God, I hope he takes after me?" Claire sighed and the girls nodded.


End file.
